Maybe When We're Done
by PhoenixSong2013
Summary: After the war, Hermione Granger thought that all the mistakes made in the past would remain mistakes. But when a mysterious letter is sent from someone who was supposed to be dead, everything is changed and she is sent back in time to change things. When she finds herself in 1977, she finds love, friendship, and family in the most unlikely places. JP/HG.
1. Defying Death and A Letter

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_If you ever receive this letter, either I am dead or unable to return to hand you this letter in person. In the former case – which would be more likely, as you are close with young Harry – the world is a dark and terrible place. You, my dear, have gone through much as both a child and young adult. I cannot change those things that have happened, but now you can._

_I once believed, in my earlier years, that muggleborns and muggles themselves had their place, and that was always below wizardry in my case. But, when I first met a young Lily Evans and later on yourself, I began to see that the world was not as Lord Voldemort believes. So, I spurred myself onward to find out how to change the way the world around you has turned out._

_Following the Potter's death I worked harder than ever, speaking with the Department of Mystery's Unspeakables about time travel. Now, in my death, I believe I have found a way to alter the course of your future._

_Hermione, I believe you are the witch that can put things right. You are both intelligent and fiercely loyal, as well as intensely brave. You have stood by Harry through things that most would run away from even as an eleven year old and later, also. You are amazingly powerful for someone so young and innocent._

_So, here comes the big question I wish to ask you – will you take this task like the Gryffindor you were named all those years ago? The future, as it seems if you receive this, is a dark place, far darker than the past was. If you succeed in this, you will be sent back to the year 1977 on August 31st, the day before Hogwarts started for James and Lily Potter's seventh year._

_With your knowledge and wisdom, I believe you can change things to be the way they would have been without Lord Voldemort. I think, with your knowledge of where the Horcruxes are, you may defeat the Dark Lord before he has properly risen._

_But, Miss Granger, there is a catch. Once you have gone back, there is no return; for if you change even a little thing, the future you love will not exist. You may find friendship, love, and loyalty you have never known before there._

_When, and if, you arrive, I will know who you are. Before my death or disappearance, I contacted my younger self in the year 1976 to inform him that if a young Miss Granger arrived to trust her immediately and let her both continue her Hogwarts years and join the Order of the Phoenix as an original member and a valuable asset._

_My younger self does not know how far from the future you might have come, but if you tell him about it, I believe that he will believe you._

_So, on the full moon, go up to my office and touch the mirror on the right of my desk. It will take you where you want to go, but to activate it you must say "Brucia," and tap your wand upon the glass four times._

_Good luck, Miss Granger._

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

When the letter had arrived like any other, Hermione had thought nothing of it as she took her breakfast in the Burrow's kitchen. She had expected, after the end of the war the previous day, that mail would arrive sooner rather than later.

But when she had recognised the cursive, neat handwriting of her deceased Headmaster, she had spat her pumpkin juice in her cereal. Both Harry and Mrs Weasley had harried over to read over her shoulder after that.

As soon as her eyes touched the third paragraph, she knew that she would do it. Neither Harry nor the Weasley can had deserved the terrible fates they had received. Fred, Lupin, and Tonks would be alive and taking breakfast with them that morning. Harry would be living with his parents and would have no lightning scar on his forehead. And that thought spurred her to read on.

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

"It's a trick, Hermione," said Harry immediately, sitting back in his seat opposite her and taking the letter to study the handwriting again. She sighed and shook her head. "You can't honestly believe that he has found a way to send a letter beyond the grave?" He scoffed, shaking his head.

Mrs Weasley nodded and bustled back over to the sink, her arms elbow-deep in soapy suds once more as she shot over her shoulder, "Albus was a brilliant wizard, but now spell can bring back the dead, Hermione."

"He's not back, Mrs Weasley," mumbled Hermione, snatching the letter back. "He was a brilliant wizard, and I have full confidence that he was brilliant enough to defy death for long enough to send a letter. And even if it wasn't him, they say they have developed a way to travel back in time. After that third paragraph, thinking about the family you'd all have and the carefree lives you'd been living, my mind was made up and I'm not about to change it."

Harry shook his head, blinking incredulously at her. "I should have known you'd think about it like that, 'Mione. But how are we supposed to know that it is a sort of time travel device and not a trap set up by the Death Eaters. They know that you're pretty much the reason that we survived that long…"

Hermione shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips as Ginny and Ron descended into the kitchen, both looking as though they hadn't slept at all. "Harry, why would they have put it up in Dumbledore's office? They couldn't have got in if they wanted to. I fully believe that Snape wouldn't have betrayed Dumbledore like that and neither would McGonagall; without them, how would they know the password?"

Ron frowned as he sat down beside Harry, taking the coffee his mother handed him thankfully and taking a sip, wincing at the warmth of it before taking the letter out of her hands. Ginny gave a small sniffle as she took the mug from Mrs Weasley and sat down gingerly on Hermione's left with a wince.

They had all been sore after the war had ended; George had broken three bones in his leg, Harry had fractured three ribs, Ginny had a concussion and a sprained ankle, Ron had his knees turned back-to-front so powerfully that even Mr Weasley couldn't change it back for two hours, Bill's left eye had almost been gouged out, Fleur's neck was cut in three places and she had almost died, Charlie's cheek bones were shattered, Percy's skin was black and blue, and Hermione herself had almost paralysed herself from the waist down. Fred had been crushed by a wall and had been rushed to St Mungo's the day before for critical surgeries.

"You're not going, 'Mione," said Ron firmly, throwing down the letter as Ginny reached for it. Hermione rolled her eyes and sipped her tea calmly. "You can't risk everything for something as risky as this. You don't know if it's true or not."

"As I told Harry," she said calmly, "there is no one who could have successfully forged Albus Dumbledore's handwriting nor accessed his office. I know you're still prejudiced against Snape and that's alright, but because of his memories I know he wouldn't have set up a trap for us there and neither would McGonagall. Mrs Weasley said herself that Dumbledore was a brilliant wizard and I believe he was brilliant enough to defy death for long enough to send a letter _and_ find a way to send me back in time."

Ginny's eyes widened and she almost spat out her tea. "You can't believe this, Hermione Jean Granger. You're not going."

Hermione huffed and set down her mug of tea, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "My mind was made up for me when I read that letter. Voldemort would be gone sooner, you'd lead happier lives. I'd do anything for you, you know that, right? And that includes walking into some weird plan to change time."

"But – but, if you did, Hermione," said Ron, spluttering slightly, "you can't come back. You know that!"

"I know," said Hermione quietly, sitting back down as Bill, Fleur, and Charlie descended into the kitchen. She watched Charlie as he grabbed some coffee and sat down in his chair, her eyes flickering briefly over Fleur, who was wincing as she sat down and bent down her neck and Bill, who was gingerly grabbing the sideboard to steady him. "But – but, if I did, none of you would go through this! I have to do it."

Fleur looked up at her, looking hopeful yet stern. "Hermione," she said, her French accent not as prominent as it had once been at aged seventeen. Bill frowned half-heartedly at her as he took a seat by his wife. "You're not going to do anything dangerous, are you? I don't know what we do without you?"

Hermione sighed as she felt tears prick her eyes. "This," she said, passing the letter to Fleur so Charlie and Bill would read over her shoulder, "arrived in the post this morning. I'm still trying to convince Harry, Ron, and Ginny to let me do it, Fleur. Don't get started on me about this, please."

"You can't honestly think this is genuine, 'Mione!" said Bill loudly, dropping the letter and glaring at her. "We can't lose you over something as stupid as this. Not today, not ever – you're not going."

Charlie nodded firmly, picking up the letter and scanning it. "You're not leaving us again, Hermione. It was scary enough when you, Ron, and Harry disappeared in the middle of the night last year."

"Dumbledore was a great wizard," said Molly, taking the mug from Hermione and staring her down sternly. "But, no matter how great he was and how intelligent and wise he was, no wizard or witch can defy death. Unless you count Harry, and right now, Harry doesn't count. You're not going, sweetheart. You have made up your mind, yes, but we have too; we're not letting you go."

Hermione stood up again, showing them her tear-stained face. "So you're not going to let me change things for the better? You're not going to let me give Harry his family? You're not going to let me give you brothers, Molly? You're not going to let me bring Fred back to you? You're not going to let me give you happier lives? Because, if you want all this pain and suffering on those you love and yourselves, go ahead – I'm not going to say I didn't try."

She pushed past Ron, who had stood up to protest, and harried up the stairs, letting out a single dry sob.

Mrs Weasley sat down heavily where Hermione had sat before, the mug laying forgotten in the draining board. "I know she means well," she said quietly, putting her head in her hands, "but she doesn't realise how much she means to us."

"Hermione has always been like that, Mum," said Ginny soothingly, sniffling herself. "She thinks everyone around her deserves better than herself and she's always been willing to take the fall for anything for anyone she loves, even if it meant self-inflicted pain. She's too nice for her own good."

Ron collapsed into his seat. "Even in first year when we saved her from that troll, she took the blame for that as if we were best friends. Afterwards, I felt so bad I'd insulted her for being who she was but she forgave me in the blink of an eye and no matter how much I did to make it up to her, I did more things that made her distance herself and nothing I could do seemed to make up for it even when she forgave me so easily."

Harry nodded, blinking rapidly. "She's brilliant – but all she seems to do is give and give and give until there's nothing left for her. Hermione told me herself she'd give us the world if she could."

"That's why we love her," said Bill sadly, shaking his head. "She's our 'Mione, and we wouldn't change her even if we could. When Charlie thought he was gay she didn't think much of it and was so happy for him. Said she didn't mind who he was with as long as they made him happy. She truly is brilliant."

"Too brilliant," said the room collectively, each eye turning to the letter that lay, almost forgotten, on the table top.

* * *

Hermione stayed awake that night until she heard Ginny's snores fill the room and the last floorboard creak. She slipped out of her bed, sniffling as she sat down on the desk chair and began to write.

_To the Weasley's,_

_I don't know if I can really go through with this. I know that if I looked back when I touch that mirror that I'll come running straight back. That's why I'm not going to look back when I touch that mirror, because I need to do this - for you. I'd walk of the edge of the earth if it made you happy, for any of you. Because I love you so, so much that it's too incredible for words._

_Harry, you've stood by me through everything. I never left your side and you never left mine. Even when you planned to run away by yourself, you knew that Ron and I would never allow it. You're my big brother, Harry - don't you forget it. Maybe you'll have an Auntie 'Mione one day._

_Ron, even when you teased me when we were younger, I knew you were a good person. You were sweet - even you have your moments - and kind and concerned. I always admired you for your bravery. You would put yourself in danger for your family even if it meant you died yourself. When I met you, the real you, I couldn't help but forgive you all those times._

_Bill, when I knew you as we grew up, you were always the cool, older man with the fanged earring and easy-going nature. I admired you because you were so tall, and brave, and chivalrous, and funny when I first met you. I was so happy when I was invited to your wedding I ran around my house for days. Just ask Wendell and Monica Wilkins if you ever meet them._

_Fleur, you're the most beautiful, loving person I have ever met. You looked after me after my stay in Malfoy Manor and when, in the Triwizard Tournament, Harry was ignoring me and Ron was treating me like a bloody owl for God's sake, you were the one who took the time to get to know the real me that I hid from everyone else. Thank you for that._

_Charlie, when Ron first told me about you, I pictured someone tall, handsome, and strong. You were all of those things, but when I got to know you, I realised there was a wonderful person underneath all that muscle. I respected you because you - as an almost-stereotypical dragon keeper - were nice to me even when Ron was angry with me after the Quidditch World Cup._

_Mr and Mrs Weasley, you were so kind to me whenever I stayed here. I love you like second parents and, in a way, you were that to me. You kept me well-fed and you forced me into bed on those nights when I wanted to read into God knows what hour in the morning. Thank you so, so much - I can only hope I've brought you as much happiness as you've brought me._

_George, you were the person who irritated me most - but I loved you because of that. You made me laugh, smile, and giggle when I felt as if the world was going to end. Don't stop smiling. Don't stop causing other people laughter. Don't stop making Ginny giggle hysterically, because Merlin knows the world needs a brighter sound than my laughter caused. Thank you for causing me some light in these dark times._

_Fred... if you ever make it out of this alive, I want you to make your family laugh more than anything. You always did a good job of that; I'll visit you in St Mungo's before I go, I promise. You've always been so full of life and laughter and love - don't stop for anyone, or anything._

_And Ginny. You were my first girlfriend who really understood me. Lavender and Parvarti and Luna were brilliant and they were like sisters, but you've been my best friend for as long as I remember. I didn't have a very happy childhood, you know that, but you made it brighter. You laughed with me and cried with me when Viktor and I broke it off and you yelled at Ron and Harry were being idiots about Crookshanks and I can't thank you enough for it._

_No matter what happens to me or any of you, know that I love you so, so much - you're my family, for God's sake! - and that that won't change as long as we shall live. I like to think that, even when I'm nowhere near home, that you're always with me._

_In my heart._

_Love,_

_Hermione._

Tears had smeared the ink into the parchment but she sponged most of the blotches away from the letter with her sleeve. Hermione stood up and folded the letter carefully, moving over to her trunk so she could dress. She dressed quickly in a pair of combat-worthy jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, tucking her wand into knee-length boots.

The letter had been tucked carefully into her favourite book - Hogwarts, A History - and placed onto the kitchen table as she slipped out of the front door. Hermione paused and looked up at the window she knew Ginny would be sleeping in and sighed, blinking back tears. She cast her gaze down to the dirt track as she turned and ran away, away from the Burrow and the people she loved.

When she reached the nearest Apparation point, just beyond the wards on the Burrow, she collapsed onto her knees and began to sob. Hermione put her head in her hands as her body wracked with sobs.

How long she stayed like that, she had no idea, but it was three in the morning when she looked up. Hermione sniffled as she stood up, the wall behind her supporting her long enough to wipe her cheeks with the handkerchief she had tucked up her sleeve and pull herself together. "Come on, Granger," she hissed to herself, shaking her head. "You'll see them again. Someday."

So she turned on her heel, thinking wildly of St Mungo's. She had promised Fred she would visit him, after all.

Hermione landed with a small thud in the hallway, rushing past the night-nurse, who glared at her. "Fred Weasley," she said hurriedly to the nearest desk witch, who smiled at her and handed her a card.

"Room 403, sweetheart," she said, making Hermione rush off down the corridor and up three flights of steps.

Stopping suddenly outside Fred's door, she braced herself. "You can say goodbye," whispered Hermione determinedly, looking upon Fred's tired place as she closed it behind her. "You owe it to him this much." Hermione raised her voice slightly, her tone trembling. "Freddie?"

His eyes opened and he looked at her sleepily, blinking away the sleep from his eyes before he cracked a weak grin at her and waved her over. She took his hand and collapsed into the chair that was usually occupied by his twin. "Hey, little 'Mione."

"Hey, Fred," she said, running her thumb over his knuckles as he looked at him questioningly. "I've come to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" said Fred slowly, his eyes narrowing as he shifted, wincing. "You can't be leaving, Hermione. You can't do that to the family. You can't do that to me."

Hermione gave him a small, tentative smile as she released a breath. "A letter arrived earlier, Freddie. It was from Dumbledore. He says he has found a way for me to travel back in time to save you all, to save thousands of lives. I'm not putting this up for discussion," she raised a hand, stopping him from protesting,, "and I'm leaving tonight. I've left a letter for them all, because I knew, if I said goodbye face-to-face, that I would run back to them if they so much as told me to. But I knew that I owed it to you because you saved my life two days ago. So... goodbye, Fred."

"Please don't go, Hermione," he whispered, clutching herself as she stood up. "We need you. I need two sisters, not one."

"I have to go now, Fred." She tugged her hand out of his, and, giving him one last, soulful glance, and left.

* * *

The Headmaster's office was just as she remembered it. Snape hadn't moved a thing while he had his brief spell at playing Dumbledore, probably in tribute to the late older man. Hermione stepped into the office, breathing heavily as she remembered the times she, Ron, and Harry had been sent up here so many times before.

Steadying herself, she approached the mirror to the left of Dumbledore's desk - it would always be his, no matter who sat at it - and drew her wand. Her reflection blinked back at her.

Her face was pale and circles lay under her eyes, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy. Hermione blinked and looked upon the top of the mirror, where it read 08-31-1977; she smiled weakly: it would be where the Mirror of Erised's writing would have been.

Raising her wand, she tapped the glass four times and whispered, "Brucia."

Like a Portkey, she felt a tug behind her navel before she was sucked through the mirror's glass.

* * *

**_From now on, this story is my main priority. I will be continuing my other stories and maybe continuing Ava Miranda Dakedavra's - who is a brilliant writer, might I add - story, 'The Return Trip', so that'll be fun to do. My other story, 'Second Chances', will be very long and I am still writing up the last chapter. I will be continuing soon, though, so none of you who are fans will have to worry._**

**_Love,_**

**_Marlene_**


	2. Not For Anyone, Not For Anything

She was watching the world spin around her. Many people, old and young, passed her vision and a few in particular caught her eye – McGonagall, Snape, Dumbledore, and the members of Dumbledore's Army were only a few of them. Hermione blinked as she saw very unfamiliar people, all sitting in a large circle, all of them paying rapt attention to the same old, old wizard with twinkling blue eyes, a crooked nose upon which sat a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, and a long, thick white beard.

Hermione stumbled forward out of the mirror, blinking owlishly at the room full of people she vaguely recognised. "I'm looking for Dumbledore," she said, collecting herself and straightening her posture, looking around coldly at their slightly shocked faces as they looked upon a girl who had fallen from a mirror. "Now, please," she said impatiently, not knowing how long it would take before she broke down.

"Ah, Miss Granger," said the old man, his wrinkled cheeks curling with the large beam he offered her, along with his hand to shake. "I believe you have arrived from the year 1998, unless I am misinformed or completely clueless."

She took his hand, her eyes still cold. "Yes, sir," she spoke softly, dangerously as she glared at the people staring unashamedly at her. "I presume this is the original Order of the Phoenix?"

Her eyes flickered over a pair of men who looked a lot like Bill, with long red hair pulled back in ponytails and bright cyan eyes, grinning mischievously at the younger witch. She blinked at them before turning her gaze to a man who looked a lot like Harry, but his eyes were an ocean blue and had no glasses whatsoever. "Mr Potter?"

"Yes," said the man slowly, looking confused as to how the mysterious woman had known his name She gave him a small smile and brief nod before turning to Dumbledore and proclaiming, "This is quite the bunch you have gathered, Professor. I trust them – they look quite promising in the task we have before us."

Dumbledore smiled at her and gestured for her to take a seat, discretely waving his wand as a chair appeared for her. "I should have known you would arrive at such an ironic time, Miss Granger. Yes, your assumption is right; this is the Order of the Phoenix. Trust me, they are quite adequate."

Hermione nodded and blinked rapidly, remembering the warm yet tired faces she had seen during her many adventures with the Order. Never again would she watch Tonks change her appearance to amuse those at the table, nor would she help brew Wolfsbane for Remus, nor would she exchange cool pleasantries with Professor Snape or hug a Weasley in the same, loving way she once had… She would never see them again…

"Are you quite alright, Miss?" said a woman to her left, looking concerned. Her flaming red hair hung to her shoulders and a kind, motherly, careworn face smiled back at her and the familiar brown eyes of Molly Weasley were fixed upon her soul once again.

She couldn't hold back the feeling inside of her as she launched herself at a clearly younger, more merry-looking version of her second mother. Sobs overtook her as she clutched the woman in front of her.

"It appears Miss Granger has finally recognised someone from home," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling knowingly.

Hermione sniffled as she pulled back, glaring up at Dumbledore as Molly blinked rapidly, trying to place where she had ever met the young woman from. "Get out of my brain please, sir," she growled, slumping back in her chair as she heard several snorts around the room.

"Not to sound rude or anything," said a clear, familiar voice from her left that made her head snap up and her eyes to water again, "but why did you just hug my wife when she appears to not recognise you at all?"

"Well, as the Headmaster has said before, I'm from the year 1998," she pointed out, looking particularly miffed as Arthur Weasley gave her a confused look that slowly gave out to dawning comprehension, "unless you weren't listening, of course, Arthur. I know you and your wife and many children quite well in the future – sometimes I feel as if you're my own parents and your children are my siblings."

Arthur blinked, looking particularly owlish as he gave her a blank look. "Well, then," said one of the twins from before, clearing his throat, "do we win this bloody war or not?"

Hermione grinned slightly as she turned to face Fabian and Gideon Prewett, running a hand through her hair and sniffling still. "Would I, a muggleborn witch, be talking to you if we hadn't won this 'bloody war'?"

The twin slowly cracked a grin, his other stifling his laughter behind a handkerchief.

"Onto business," said the man with untidy dark hair and blue eyes, coughing slightly as his wife gave a small giggle. "How did you get here exactly? And why did you give us your real name? It would change things and thus your future will not exist…"

She nodded sadly, casting a soulful glance at the silent room in front of her. "I'm not going home. Home is a terrible place that has only just got out of the Dark ages, and because I was a big part of it, I'm more likely to be ambushed in broad daylight there. Anyway, I left home for good.

"See, yesterday morning a letter arrived upon the breakfast table. I thought nothing of it because we had just finished this thing the day before and the letters were bound to arrive to either thank or scream at us. So I sat down and read it. Unfortunately, the letter's handwriting belonged to someone who had been dead for a very long time. I read it, with my friend Harry and Molly Weasley looking over my shoulder, and it told me of a way one Albus Dumbledore had found back in time to end the suffering of many and save thousands of lives. Naturally, Harry and the Weasley's thought it was a forging," continued Hermione, noting the look of pride on Molly and Arthur's faces, "and I had to sneak out of the Burrow in the middle of the night to do this. I travelled to St Mungo's to say goodbye to Fred before coming here, because he saved my life at the battle of Hogwarts. So, I followed the instructions that Dumbledore gave me and then, I was here."

Hermione swallowed, standing up and braving a glance at the room around her as she glared around at them all, her hands on her hips and her hazel eyes cold. "Sir, I'd appreciate it if you would show me to my living quarters for the time being. Unless, of course, this meeting is not over."

Dumbledore nodded, looking hesitant to end the meeting, but complied and waved his hand.

She knew it was cold, but she could no longer stand the pitying, untrusting, or shocked glances every single person in that room had unashamedly given her. Some of them had looked almost apologetic, as if it had been their fault.

"Very well," said Dumbledore, waving his hand as everyone stood up. "Follow me, Miss Granger. Come on," he started towards the door and she spared a glance at the subdued room before following.

"One more question!" called Marlene McKinnon, making everyone freeze as Hermione's hand touched the doorknob. She seemed to collect herself before nodding briefly, her head only turned the slightest bit toward the blonde woman, who hesitated. "What is it like in the future?"

Hermione swallowed, her gaze turning cold. "Worse than you will ever imagine; of course, half of you won't live to see it." She pulled open the door and followed Dumbledore, who had waited for her on the staircase, down fifteen steps.

The pair travelled in silence toward the fourth floor, their cloaks silently flowing around their ankles as they swivelled around winding corridors and through room after room, passing portrait after portrait.

"Hello, Headmaster," said a portrait of a beautiful woman, who perched on top of a chest of drawers. Her blonde hair fell to her mid-waist and her eyes were a protuberant grey. She reminded her of her young friend Luna, which made Hermione blink back tears as the painting beamed around at them. Her voice was dreamier than Luna's had been, perhaps more airier and had a more floaty quality to it that comforted her; it was the way Luna had spoken before the war had hardened her and turned her into a fierce fighting machine. "Hello, young stranger. Welcome to Hogwarts!"

Hermione gave the Luna look-alike a small smile, feeling familiar with her. "I'm Hermione," she said.

"I'm Evanna," said the painting, beaming dreamily. "What will be the password, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore smiled and turned to Hermione, who shrugged and leaned forward, whispering, "Phoenix," before the portrait swung open, startling the young witch and amusing Dumbledore.

"Don't worry, Miss Granger – Evanna likes to surprise people, but she won't give your secret away to anyone. She was a mother herself once," he spoke softly, his eyes twinkling. "Goodnight, Miss Granger, sweet dreams."

He bade her good evening before striding off down the hallway, his cloak billowing around his ankles.

Hermione sighed and gave Evanna a small wave before stepping inside, feeling the portrait close behind her. The way she had entered reminded her much of the Gryffindor Common Room, and suddenly she realised exactly where she was.

The guest rooms at Hogwarts had been built for visitors or parents that were too eager to see their children. None of them had been used for centuries, but that did not mean that they were any less cleanly grand.

The room Hermione was standing in was tall and majestic, though the floors were covered with dark crème rugs and the fire roared merrily in a grate just across the room. Armchairs were scattered about the room, tables between them. The walls were painted a variety of deep, light, and dark blues that made the room look like it was the Ravenclaw Common Room, and most of them were lined with short bookshelves.

"Wow," she murmured, spotting a door to her left. It lead to an expensive bathroom, furnished with marble. Another door led to a grand bedroom with dark red sheets and gold hangings. "I didn't know the Founders were interior designers."

Her attempt at humour rang out through the silent room. As beautiful as it was, she couldn't help but feel lonely. Of course, she was alone in the past with no home other than Hogwarts and the next day she would be starting her seventh year with dead people who she had met before, only older.

Harry and Ron wouldn't be there to hold her when she cried. The twins wouldn't cheer her up with their pranks or make her scream herself hoarse at their ridiculous products. Molly and Arthur would never bake her dinner and kiss her goodnight again. Charlie and Bill wouldn't fight with tables in the back garden again, and Fleur would not make her feel better about herself.

Never again would she fight side-by-side with her family.

No. She would not do that. She would not regret trying to put their lives right. Hermione Granger would die trying to save them and bring back thousands of lives that would make them happier than she ever could.

And, not for the first time in her life, she felt truly alone.

Hermione stumbled over to the sofa, blinking back tears and hugging her arms around herself. Even with the fire radiating heat she felt as cold as ice. "I miss you," she murmured, tears finally breaking the hardened barriers she had held up for seven years.

Salty droplets of water ran relentlessly down her cheeks, their force sending her into a mindless mass of sobs as she collapsed on the sofa, arms wrapped around herself for warmth.

Tomorrow she would start Hogwarts, her first day without them.

Hermione Granger was no longer one third of the Golden Trio. She was no longer an honorary Weasley. She was no longer best friend to Harry Potter, the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived. Never again would she be any of those things.

But she would be damned if she gave up now. All of her life she had fought for what she believed in, in the things that made those around her smile and laugh.

She would not give up. Not for anyone, not for anything.

* * *

_**I'd like to thank each and every one of you who have reviewed - but it's late (according to my parents, anyway) and I'm tired. So, yada yada yada, blah blah blah, thank you so much...**_

_**Must sleep now...**_

_**Love,**_

_**Marlene**_


	3. A New Girl and A Runaway

James stepped off the platform onto the train, shutting the door behind him hesitantly; it was his last ride on the Hogwarts Express and he planned to savour every moment on that train. It was where most of his happy memories had taken place; there was only one Hogwarts Express and only several times you would sit inside its compartments. Everything would flash past in a blink of an eye and then those seven years would be gone.

He shook his head, turning away from the window and beginning his trek down the corridor, tugging his trunk along behind him. James pushed past several groups of students before he found their compartment.

The four Marauders had all first met in that same compartment he was standing in front of now. All of them had come to Hogwarts without friends, without knowing anyone. His parents had been older ones who attended tea parties with people like old Bathilda Bagshot, who lived two miles down the road; Sirius had been kept from the outside world because his parents feared he would not love the Dark Arts like they had and, because they lived in a muggle square, they would not have him mixing with muggles; Remus had been cursed cruelly at a young age and it was only by chance he had even been able to attend Hogwarts, let alone see the world itself; and Peter had muggle parents and had never seen anyone in the magical world or met anyone.

"Prongs!" announced a jovial voice, and James found himself broken out of his musings when a hand shot through the compartment door and yanked him roughly inside. He laughed as Sirius plonked him down beside a disgruntled looking Remus, whose book had been knocked to the floor. "You finally made it! We thought you were late or something."

Remus shook his head, picking up his book as James grinned around at his friends. "How was your summer, James?" said Remus, putting the book inside his rucksack with a small smile.

James grinned at his two best friends, folding his hands behind his head as he kicked his legs up on the bench opposite. "Good. Mum and Dad were out too much – St Mungo's was crazy according to Mum, and the Auror Department was working overtime for Dad. I was pretty much left alone with the house elves, but they didn't seem to mind much."

"No summer could be worse than mine," said Sirius, suddenly becoming very gloomy. "I had a row with mother again – she tried to make me join the Death Eaters again, and then I ran away."

Shocked faces met his statement, every jaw dropped as they stared at the despairing man across from them. "I've got an apartment in central London; it's far enough away that they won't find me again and close enough to Potter Manor that I can Floo there in a matter of seconds."

Shakily, both boys nodded, looking each other in the eye before turning their worried gaze towards the nonchalantly grinning boy. The wide grin on his face didn't quite reach his eyes, however. "Are you sure about this, Sirius? You're always welcome at our house," said James, Remus nodding in agreement.

"Yeah," said the dog Animagus, turning his gaze to the window before quickly changing the subject. "So the Quidditch Cup this Christmas break? Who's playing?"

Remus and James exchanged looks, knowing that, if they pushed Sirius further, he would snap at them, and decided to let the subject drop. "The Irish versus the French," responded James immediately, shifting uncomfortably.

He and his friends spent the train ride playing Exploding Snap, which resulted in Remus losing one eyebrow and Sirius to lose two inches of hair. James sat back as the train's brakes screeched to a halt, grinning smugly at his friends as they grumbled and lifted his trunks. He silently thanked his cleverness when it came to building the stakes.

The three jumped off the train as one, James messing up his hair as Sirius grinned and Remus winked wolfishly at the girls nearby, causing them to giggle and flip their hair as they admired them appreciatively.

They gave the Gamekeeper, Hagrid, a wave and enthusiastic grins before they sprinted right past the carriages they had meant to sit inside. Remus quickly pulled ahead, tugging Sirius behind him.

"Come on, Prongs!" yelled Sirius, looking pleased that his best friend had decided to pull him ahead. James rolled his eyes and sped up, pushing past Sirius, who looked quite put out.

The carriages had begun to trundle up the hill, but the boys reached the doors before they could. "Ha!" said Remus triumphantly as the trio noticed the rain begin to trickle down upon the heads of the other students.

A group of second year Hufflepuff's sidled past them, looking nervous, but the boys just grinned at them and let them past; the doors weren't open anyway.

James ran a hand through his hair as he turned towards the doors, just as they opened into the smiling face of Flitwick. He squeaked to them, looking mildly annoyed, "You ran here again, didn't you?"

The trio nodded in unison, giving him identical mischievous grins as he sighed and, with difficulty, held the doors open to let them in.

* * *

Hermione pulled the hood over her head, swallowing nervously. She had agreed to be sorted in front of the whole school, but now... well, she was regretting all of that Gryffindor bravery that damned hat had told her she had. Hermione felt the doors open behind her and turned around, facing the school and taking a shaky step forward.

It seemed that every eye in the hall had turned to her collectively. She gulped again, taking a few steps forward. Confidence suddenly filled her as she passed the Ravenclaw table, and she threw the hood back off her face. Hermione strode over to the stool, her steps filling the hall and echoing slightly in the alcoves of the room itself.

As she sat on the stool, she felt a voice in her head and the hat being lowered on top of it. _"Hello again, Miss Granger. I seem to have met you before, according to your thoughts." _Hermione nodded, not trusting her voice much, but the hat continued, _"You have attributes that all houses would value, dear girl, but the thing you seem to value most is your courage and bravery. Because of this, Godric seems to have won yet again... _Gryffindor!"

She sighed with relief and handed the hat to McGonagall, giving the older witch a smile and a quick thanks before joining the first years. If she sat anywhere else, she feared she might be cornered by older students. Thankfully, the first years just preferred to ignore her presence altogether and spoke to each other as if they hadn't know she was sitting with them, and for that she was very thankful.

Hermione's eyes unconsciously flickered down the table, noting the considerable loss of red hair the House had once prided itself on. She sighed and looked down at her plate, knowing she would have to stay healthy in order to properly be fit enough to take on the Dark Lord. _Ha, he'd better wait until I get my hands on him... _She gave a small chuckle at her own thoughts, sighing as she swallowed a forkful of potato.

Her eyes met a pair of curious hazel ones and she shifted in her seat, not daring to move more. James Potter gave her a small smile and quick wave before punching the boy next to him, who reminded her very much of her third year DADA Professor. Hermione smiled and returned to dinner.

It was not long before she felt another pair of eyes on her, and she immediately looked up and into a pair of smoky grey eyes. Sirius Black smirked at her, obviously thinking he had managed to make her swoon, but she unnerved him further by smirking back.

She stood up and pushed her plate away, pulling her hood up again as she left the Great Hall, not even thinking about it until she found herself in front of Evanna, who smiled at her.

"Phoenix," she murmured, not trusting her voice to say much more, and the portrait swung forward to admit her entrance. Hermione collapsed in her bed a few minutes later, feeling as though she had been trampled by a herd of elephants. Her hazel eyes remained wide open as she lay in the dark, musing over yesterday.

"The Marauders," she breathed, finally letting her tears fall. Her best friend's father had looked at her, smiled at her, waved at her. Her best friend's two father figures had grinned at her, smirked at her, smiled at her.

Her insides were emptied a few moments later as she rushed to the bathroom, both looking and feeling sick.

_This was going to be very difficult._

* * *

A few moments later, the three Marauders had positioned themselves right in the centre of the Gryffindor table as the Hall began to fill. Students narrowly avoided Peeves the poltergeist as he blew raspberries at them, cackling with laughter.

"Hey there, Peeves!" announced Sirius, high-fiving the Fat Friar as he whizzed past. The Grey Lady rolled her eyes and shared brief greetings with them before joining Flitwick for a small chat before the Sorting Ceremony. "This year's going to be the best for us yet," he said, grinning, "I can tell."

Remus nodded, "There is something about the air that seems as if everyone is waiting for something amazing to happen. I think maybe they think we're going to pull a prank." He pulled out a book and propped it against the milk jug, absently resting his chin on the heel of his hand.

"Let the Sorting begin!" announced a voice, and the students turned as one towards the entrance, where the Headmaster stood, beaming at them. He led a group of first years up to where McGonagall stood, her lips pressed in a thin line, with a stool and the hat.

"Abbott, Susan!" announced McGonagall, and the little girl was sorted into Hufflepuff. The trio clapped and cheered louder than anyone whenever a first year joined them, but they weren't really interested in anything but the plates that had been set out before them; when the sorting was over, the plates would magically fill with food that the house elves in the kitchens prepared for them.

When every first year had been sorted, the students turned towards the plates expectantly, but nothing happened. An amused chuckle ran through the hall and each head turned towards Dumbledore, who smiled. "I am sorry to keep you from your food," he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement, "but there is still one more student to join your midst.

"Miss Hermione Granger has transferred here to complete her seventh year at Hogwarts. She has agreed to be sorted in front of the school, which we believe is very brave," his eyes sparkled as he looked at McGonagall, who looked very proud indeed to have met this 'Miss Granger'. "So, without further ado, I present, Hermione Granger!"

When the doors opened, there was no applause. The Great Hall held their breath as a tall figure stepped into the room, their hood drawn over their head. A hand reached up and pulled the hood down, however, when they reached the doorway, and a tanned, beautiful face met their suspicious looks.

Her hair tumbled out of the robe in wild, untamed locks of soft brown, reaching her waist in length. A pair of bright hazel eyes scanned the room carefully before the tanned, warm face's owner stepped into the light.

Hermione Granger walked confidently through the silent hall, her heels clicking loudly against the stones as she reached the stool. She sat down gingerly before the hat was placed upon her tresses, and just as it did, it declared, "Gryffindor!"

James was the first to clap as Hermione Granger sat down at the end of the table with the first years, her eyes twinkling as she scanned the table. Her eyes paused on him for a moment longer than they had done anywhere else and he unconsciously ruffled his hair as his eyes locked hers.

She seemed to be shocked he was there, but she shook herself and turned to her plate, which Hermione Granger had filled with the lightest foods on the table. Sirius eyed her appreciatively as she daintily ate, ever with the grace of a swan.

"Looks like James likes the new girl," said Remus quietly, unable to keep the amusement from his voice and the teasing grin from his face. James rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably.

Sirius smirked as the girl looked at him, but she just smirked back at him before returning to her food.

Yes, it was true. Hermione Granger appeared to be an anomaly not even the Marauders could figure out, decided Remus as he watched her excuse herself and stand to leave the Great Hall, her cloak billowing out behind her.

* * *

**_I'm sorry this is so short, but I had to take some time of school these past few days because I'm not feeling too well. If it's not up to standard, I apologise for that, but I will update in a few days' time, and maybe that will make up for it._**

**_Also, on a completely different note, I will be continuing Ava Miranda Dakedavra's 'The Return Trip' sometime soon. I'll have to somehow download it, and I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me how the heck can I do that before next week's up? I hope you'll enjoy that story just as you have loyally loved this one._**

**_Thank you so much for your support and reviews! I think I cried last night and I saw however many followers and favourites I had :) Now I know how Voldemort felt when he sat in his Death Eater meetings._**

**_A special thank you to Lionswing, who had me wake up and see that James needed introducing, or, quite frankly, you'd miss out on the awesome Marauder's antics. I'm also going to apologise in advance if my version of their pranks is crap, but I have never pulled a prank before in my life, despite my love for them myself. I'm just weird._**

**_Anyway, I won't keep myself any longer - I need to continue on this for all of you! Hope you liked the chapter!_**

**_Reviews are always welcome and PMs don't annoy me as much as they should do!_**

**_Love,_**

**_Marlene._**


	4. Lakeside Fun

Hermione gave Evanna a small wave as she turned the corner, her robes swung haphazardly over one shoulder and a half-toasted piece of bread in her hand. She hummed to herself as she made her way through the castle's twisting corridors towards the Entrance Hall; the first day of Hogwarts had fallen on a Saturday that year, and she had been stuck inside for the past few days and it had been as good a time as ever to go out onto the grounds.

She finished her toast just as she came to the doors, pulling them open with little difficulty. The bright midday light flooded her vision, but she continued on down the hill as though the sudden beams of sunlight hadn't startled her at all.

"Excuse me!" called a voice behind her, and she whirled around so quickly her curled tresses flew into the girl behind her's face. Hermione apologized hurriedly, her face as pale as it had been before; war had done strange things to her and she refused to start blushing like a school girl.

_I am a schoolgirl, _thought Hermione as she watched the vaguely familiar redheaded girl recompose herself, a blush staining her cheeks. "I didn't mean to startle you," said the girl, her emerald eyes meeting her cinnamon.

Her eyes widened as she looked into Harry's eyes, looked on Ginny's hair, and watched the familiar mischievous sparkle alight within the girl's eyes. "It does not matter, does it?" said Hermione breathlessly, a small smile tugging at her lips as she looked at her best friend's mother.

"Lily Evans," said the girl, just as breathless as she offered Hermione her hand, a blush still tinting her cheeks as she thought over the startled reaction she had caused the other girl. "I wanted to ask why you weren't sleeping in the dormitories." Hermione shook her hand.

Hermione smiled at Lily, fighting a blush off her own cheeks. "Oh – that's partly my fault. I arrived in the summer and McGonagall wasn't here to reset the password on the Tower, so I slept in an old guest room on the third floor." She glanced down at the Head Girl badge on Lily's robes, a smile tugging at her lips at the similarities of the way she proudly stood and the way Harry had slouched around, almost afraid of people's curious gazes. "But, because of your status, I assumed you would not be sleeping there yourself?"

Lily beamed at Hermione, her badge flashing on her chest; it was rather clear she was proud someone had noticed at all. "Well, this year the Head dorms are being used for something, so Potter and I decided to give up that privilege and go back to the Tower. It would have been better there, anyway, because it wouldn't have felt right."

"I'm Hermione Granger," said Hermione softly, before adding, "But you'd already know that. The whole school would have noticed by now that there is another student among their ranks."

"Yes," Lily paused, seemingly thinking over something before blinking and grinning at Hermione, who grinned back, "the gossip here at Hogwarts spreads like wildfire. They will be curious for a few months, but then you'll mostly be left alone."

She took her hand back, smiling at Lily, who beamed back. "I'll see if I can talk to Professor Dumbledore about moving into the dormitories, if you'd like that."

Lily nodded, looking pleased. "Well…" she trailed off, looking around awkwardly, but Hermione laughed and grabbed her hand and tugged her down the hill. She giggled and let her new friend pull her down mound after mound before they reached the border of the Forbidden Forest. "We can't go in there, we're not allowed!"

But the other witch rolled her eyes. "What does that stop us from doing?" Hermione paused, sending a glance back at Lily, who had planted her feet firmly into the earth and refused to go further. "Besides, we're not going in there."

The redhead blushed and allowed Hermione to pull her over to a nearby rock, which stood a few feet away from a beech tree, which cast shade over them. They were right above the lake and, if they were careful, they could slip down and dip their feet inside.

Hermione swung her legs up atop the rock, her untameable curls flying in her hazel eyes as she did so. She didn't know why, but the kind, motherly nature that radiated off Lily had made her feel as if she was that same schoolgirl who had spent those long summer afternoons with Harry, Ron, and Ginny on those same grounds, rolling in the grass and splashing in the lake.

She then proceeded to make a big show of attempting to pull Lily up onto the rock beside her, which resulted into a blushing redhead and a clan of giggling first years nearby. Lily somehow felt at home beside this new girl and allowed herself to be tugged up beside her new friend, who waved cheekily at her.

"I haven't done this in a while," said Hermione an hour later, carefully dipping her toe into the water. She shivered and pulled it out, watching Lily carefully hold up her robes high enough to wade knee-deep in the lake. Their shoes and socks had been discarded under the beech tree a few minutes previously, and the two had busied themselves trying to get over the freezing water the lake doused them with.

Lily looked at her questioningly, letting the corner of her robe fall into the lake. She cursed and lifted it back up and huffed, shrugging the robe over her head and throwing it beside her shoes. "What do you mean?"

Hermione smiled at Lily, pushing her robe behind her on top of the rock and wiggling her toes inside the water as she slipped down ankle-deep. "I haven't done this in a while," she repeated, shivering slightly as she waded toward Lily, anxiously holding up her cloak. "I haven't had this much fun since I was sixteen. And even now that was a few years ago. In a few days I'll be nineteen."

"But… seventh years are all sixteen until they turn seventeen!" protested Lily, her red hair now tickling the top of the water.

"I dropped out of seventh year to help in the war," Hermione sighed, feeling at perfect ease as she let her skirt drop into the water with a giggle.

Lily's eyes widened, suddenly clamping her mouth shut. "You dropped out on your seventh year?" she repeated. Hermione nodded, but her redheaded friend just shook hers. "But you need NEWTs to get somewhere in the world!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Not in the muggle world, though. Some of us actually go back there after our seven years at Hogwarts. I'm muggleborn."

"I am, too," said Lily quietly, pausing for a moment. "It's terrible, isn't it? The way the treat muggleborns is horrific. We have to deal with such ridicule and pain because of our blood…"

Her curls pinned out of her face, Hermione looked up sadly and nodded. "Tell me about it," she said, her voice just as grave and quiet. "What I don't understand is how they expect us to steal their magic, when they think so lowly of us, as if we couldn't do it without the half-bloods and purebloods helping us. Sometimes it's the fact that we have to have everything about the magical world, including its many flaws, explained to us; it's like walking into a whole new world where we are already hated and disliked without them knowing us as we are, not our blood."

Lily sighed and waded back to the water's edge, perching herself on the back and letting her toes trace patterns in the lake. She perked up a second later, watching Hermione intently. "Did you know that most pureblood families aren't actually pureblooded? Most of them just claim they are and forget that they don't have the most pure blood possible and continue on with their lives, fully believing they are better at us."

Hermione's tone became icy, and her eyes dark. "Do you really think they are better than us?" her voice was soft, dangerously cold.

"No!" squealed Lily indignantly, looking dignified as she snapped her head up to meet her friend's eyes defiantly. Then she slapped a hand to her forehead, a frown tugging at her brow. "I don't believe that at all, Hermione. I'm sorry if I made it sound like that. I don't really know how to voice what I feel most of the time, and that came out wrong. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," Hermione replied, her tone much softer as she hauled herself up onto the bank beside her new friend. "I'm just used to the prejudice and I thought… well, I'm sorry."

Lily smiled at her, perking up once more as a smile tugged at her lips. "Do come on, 'Mione!"

"'Mione?" asked Hermione, grinning as her friend pulled on her arm and into the water. She allowed the redheaded witch to pull her back into the lake. And then her eyes were covered and she squealed, waving her arms around blindly.

A laugh was heard behind her as her eyes were uncovered, but was quickly splashed with salty water. Lily grinned and darted out of Hermione's way, who had lunged for her, and both of them tumbled into the water, squealing and giggling once more.

* * *

James pulled Sirius behind him, a furious blush on his cheeks as he led them away from the crowd of swooning Ravenclaws behind them. Remus tutted as he followed them, hiding his amused face behind his book as he watched Sirius wink flirtatiously at him, causing the girls to giggle and swoon again.

"You had to do that, didn't you, Padfoot?" said James gruffly as he let go of his friend and hauled himself up onto a nearby rock, frowning. His two best friends situated themselves at the foot of that rock, both looking thoroughly amused as James continued to grumble under his breath. "Merlin help us now... School joke..."

It had been like any other morning when Sirius had woken them up and dragged them onto the grounds. He had pulled them into the Forbidden Forest, where the trio had a bit of a wander. A few hours later, they had appeared on the edge, looking slightly dishevelled and bruised. Remus had stumbled over a tree root and into the gaggle of giggling Ravenclaws, causing them to immediately jump to conclusion; this conclusion happened to be the worst they could have come up with. And now probably half the school was under the impression all three Marauders were gay.

And no one would ask them what really happened, because they didn't really know themselves.

"Yes, yes I did," said Sirius, smirking as he watched a seventh year Slytherin with dark hair wander across the grounds, her eyes fixed on him and him alone. He grinned at her and she giggled and waved.

Remus rolled his eyes and returned to his book, attempting to read the top of the page - _Again! _- but a loud shriek startled the trio into leaping to their feet and grabbing their wands, whirling around.

But the shriek, they soon found, was not one of pain or fear; it was of laughter, and it had erupted from a beautiful redhead's mouth as she lunged after a familiar brunette with hazel eyes, who danced out of her way and flicked some water after the redhead. The redhead lunged for her again, but the other girl was too fast and they both tumbled forwards into the lake, squealing as they were doused head-to-toe in freezing water.

The redhead had long, dark red hair that tumbled to her waist in tamed ringlets, her eyes a sparkling emerald. Her form was petite, small, and thin, with her stance one of playful fighting. Her hands darted forward as she sat up, spluttering, and she grabbed the other girl around the wrist and pulled her back down beside her. The other girl, who had stood up and turned to face them, prying her soaked curls from her eyes, was just as gorgeous.

Her dark chocolate hair was wild and untamed, and hung to past her waist and to her hips in beautiful waves that clashed well with her bright, mischievous hazel eyes. Those eyes told of wisdom and war, but also of love and hope, and they seemed to burn with an ever-burning fire that danced in the light. She, like the redhead, was beautiful, her form small yet strong, petite yet powerful.

The Marauders immediately recognised the redhead as Lily Evans, but were shocked by her laid-back, fun nature. Her eyes glistened with mischief as she pulled the other girl under the water, no longer caring about their soaked clothes. The other girl was vaguely familiar, with her mischievous grin and infectious giggle, she was beautiful.

Hermione shrieked as Lily tackled her around the waist, pushing them both back onto the bank. She gasped for air as a tear of mirth trickled down her cheek, holding her hands against her new friend's and wrestling with the redhead. Lily playfully rolled off and lay by her side, and both girls sighed in unison and closed their eyes.

A shadow had fallen over her face when she looked up, and Hermione was once again looking into the bright, intelligent eyes of Remus Lupin. "Hello," she said breathlessly, a smile tugging at her lips as she looked up at him. He grinned at her and offered his hand, which she accepted, and hauled her to her feet. "I'm Hermione Granger."

He took her offered hand, smiling at her. She noticed how his eyes flickered back to Lily frequently, who was still cluelessly sunbathing below them. Hermione let loose a small giggle at his obviousness, to which he had the decency to blush. "Lily, we have visitors."

The redhead sat up very quickly, knocking foreheads with James Potter, who shot back and groaned in pain as his best friend fell into fits of laughter, holding his ribs as he looked between he and the redheaded girl he had fancied since first year. "You... you..." spluttered Sirius, almost hysterically, before bursting out in mirth again.

Hermione winked at Remus and turned to help Lily to her feet, who blushed as she rubbed her forehead. Her emerald eyes fell on Remus, who smiled at her, and she blushed again. Hermione's eyes widened as she spotted their interaction, a twinkle in her eye as she smiled knowingly and turned around to the other two Marauders.

"The name's Hermione Granger," she said, offering her hand to the nearest Marauder, who happened to be the father of her best friend. He looked up at her, did a double take, and used her hand to haul himself to his feet.

"James Potter," he replied cheerily, sending a subtle glare in Sirius' direction. "But you can call me babe."

Hermione rolled her eyes and released his hand, folding her arms and fixing him with a flat stare. "Or pathetic."

Lily giggled and looked at James, who smirked at her as Sirius burst out laughing again.

"We'll get along just fine," gasped out Sirius, patting Hermione's shoulder patronisingly.

* * *

_**So... this was a very, very long, agonisingly long, chapter to write. I haven't been feeling that well, so... well, I gave it my best shot. If it's not up to usual standards, then I apologise.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Marlene**_


	5. Tell Me Everything, Miss Granger

Hermione rolled over out of his shadow, looking up at him curiously. It had been half an hour since she had first met the Marauders and yet she almost felt at peace with their company. She had found both Sirius and Remus very different from their older selves, the haunted people she knew, but James was just as she thought he would have been.

He was smart, loyal, and had a very good sense of humour. Anything you told him he could twist in his own way of seeing the world, his own views and opinions. While he could be very immature at times, he had a sensible contribution to each conversation, and yet managed to uphold his bad-boy reputation Lily had told her about.

"Hey, Granger," said James, sitting down beside her. For a moment she was reminded of the day his own son had said the same as he sat down next to her, but she shook his head and told herself that this wasn't Harry and he never would be. "You look like you've seen a ghost." His voice changed from carefree, easy-going to worried, concerned.

She laughed a little, swallowing down the lump in her throat. Hermione couldn't help herself by the way she compared him to Harry, his brotherly, kind nature and yet so loyal attitude – _Harry would have had that if he had anyone to be loyal to, _she thought sadly as her hazel eyes met his for a moment.

"You sure know how to charm a girl, Potter," Lily piped up; looking at him scathingly over the top of her book, but the twitch of her lips told them both how she had actually felt. The school had been under the false pretence the two hated one another, when in reality the two had been friends since their sixth year, when James had finally taken responsibility and Lily had admitted her wrongs. "No doubt Hermione will instantly fall under your spell." But she, too, looked at the bookworm concernedly. "Are you alright?"

Hermione nodded, but her brow was still creased and it was clear neither were buying it. Her home had become less and less appealing to her. "Yeah," she muffled, burying her head in her arms and looking out across the lake.

The five had positioned themselves beside the lake, where the sun was brightest yet the shade provided by the beech tree kept them cool. Lily and Remus had shared a look and pulled out their books, already studying for their NEWTs – well, according to Sirius, this was the norm. A few minutes previous, Sirius had run after a group of giggling Hufflepuff's. "I'll be back in a minute!" he had called as he folded his hands with the tallest girl, who was only a few inches smaller than him. But, according to Lily and Remus, this was the norm too.

Needless to say, he hadn't returned.

She found the need to blink back tears as she peered into a pair of familiar emerald eyes and a comforting arm was wrapped around her shoulder. Lily had dropped her book and been at her side in an instant, grabbing her new friend around the shoulders and looking at her worriedly.

"Hermione, what's the matter? Did I do something wrong?" asked James, his voice a few octaves higher than it usually was. "Hermione?"

She looked up at him, her hazel eyes pooling with tears. "No – no – nothing wrong," she murmured, but the need to sob relentlessly betrayed her. Salty drops of water trickled agonisingly slowly down her cheeks.

Hermione threw herself at Remus, who was the nearest person, and began to sob. Every time she told herself to take a deep breath and calm down, Harry and the future always created more need for tears.

Remus stayed frigid against her, clearly not knowing what to do at all.

"It's alright," soothed Lily, pulling her gently away from Remus and tugging her into her embrace. "I am here, it's all alright. James and Remus are here and Sirius is going to be right back. We'll look after you, Hermione, we'll look after you."

"No – no – no – gone, gone, gone – all gone…" Hermione whimpered, shrinking into herself and pulling away from Lily, looking as if she had just woken, her face as pale as death and her eyes as cold and empty as those of a corpse. "They're gone."

Lily stroked Hermione's hair, whispering condolences to her and shooting urgent looks towards the two boys, who looked as though someone had just killed the other in front of them. "What do you mean, gone?" asked Remus slowly, looking at her as though she had just grown another head.

She looked up at him shakily, slowly running a hand through her hair and sniffling slightly. "I skipped out on my real seventh year to help in the war," said Hermione hoarsely, "and the others who did so with me were all killed."

James looked sadly, shocked, at the girl he had only just met. He knew that she wouldn't have wanted pity, and he wasn't going to give someone so broken what they needed least. He was going to give her what she needed most – comfort and friendship.

When he sat up and shuffled beside her, she looked at him slightly apprehensively, but when he pulled her gently into his arms and ran his hands through her hair, she relaxed against him. James rocked them both back and forth, ignoring the looks he was receiving from his two friends and forgetting where they were.

He was surprised when she began to calm down a moment later, but nonetheless pleased as she looked up at him with determined, strong hazel eyes that seemed to burn with their same fire once more.

Hermione relaxed in his familiar embrace, knowing this was not Harry and never would be deep inside, but feeling the need to pretend everything was alright and everything would always be. She shook herself; Voldemort and his army were still out there and would be until she gathered her act together and continued fighting.

She was no use to the magical world when she was sobbing like no tomorrow.

So she prised herself out of James' grasp and looked up at all of them, fixing each of their worried stares with a look that immediately calmed them slightly. Hermione got to her feet slowly, using the beech tree for leverage as she stumbled her way towards the castle.

In an instant, Lily was by her side and holding her hand, beaming at her. "You have us now, 'Mione, don't forget that we'll be here for you."

"As long as you need it," said Remus solemnly, smiling slightly at her as he appeared on her other side.

James stood up, pleased with himself as he stood in front of her, taking her other hand and kissing it lightly. "Maybe when you don't want us," he finished, grinning at her as she grinned at him.

"Even then," said both Lily and Remus, sharing a surprised look as Hermione dissolved into giggles and began to tug them up to the castle.

* * *

Lily collapsed in the chair by the fire, stretching her feet and swinging them over the arm of the sofa. She watched Hermione amusedly as she brunette flopped, face first, into the couch opposite, her hair sticking up at odd angles. James and Remus had fled down to the Great Hall when they walked in on Sirius and his latest catch and neither girl had heard from them since.

Hermione groaned and raked a hand through her hair, glaring at Lily as she rested her chin on the arm. "Did you have to?" she moaned. "It was just a joke, Lily, you didn't have to go overboard and make it true!"

"Well, you didn't tell me that," sniffed Lily, sticking her nose primly in the air before giggling. "And anyway, the look on MacNair's face was worth it, don't you agree?"

"Yeah," agreed Hermione dully, attempting to tame her untameable hair. Lily sighed and rolled over so she was right behind her and began to work through the knots, tugging the curls through her fingers and huffing when it did not comply with her needs. "Ugh, I hate your hair," said Lily after fifteen minutes of trying to free her hand, which had been stuck in a particularly pedantic tangle.

Hermione laughed. "Me too," she spoke softly, smiling up at Lily. "I feel as though we've known each other forever," she said after a moment of silence. Lily nodded thoughtfully, yanking her hand out of Hermione's curls and making her companion hiss. She laughed and stood up, tugging Hermione after her and asking her to take her to her room. "Err... OK, then."

A few minutes later, both girls were rounding a corner and giggling uncontrollably. The corridor they had previously been in had contained only two occupants - James and Remus. Both boys had been either hitting their head against the wall and mumbling about brain damage and mental images or rocking back and forth on the floor, hugging themselves and looking truly mad. The former was obvious, but they were both surprised when James had blushed when he spotted Hermione and Lily walking past and began to follow Remus' example.

"Oh - my - Merlin," Lily hiccoughed as they stood in front of Evanna's portrait, who waved cheerily at them before saying, "Hello, Hermione!" Lily stopped and looked up at Evanna with her jaw dropped, her eyes wide and her giggles forgotten. "You can talk?"

Evanna smiled dreamily at her and nodded. "Yes, I can. I've been sleeping for a while, though, but when I was woken I was alerted to a guest within the walls so... well, you could say I hide more than one secret. She giggled as Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned forward, mumbling the password. Evanna waved at them as her portrait swung open, calling, "See you later, Evans!"

Hermione looked at Lily awkwardly as her friend gaped at her, pulling her backwards onto the sofa. "I actually think I might move in here," proclaimed Lily a moment later, grinning at her friend who giggled back. "I'm serious! Forget about moving into Gryffindor Tower, I'm moving in here!"

"You could, Miss Evans, if you wished," said a voice from behind them, and both girls whirled around, their wands at hand as they looked apprehensive - Lily - and almost exasperated - Hermione -, but were both relieved to see Dumbledore standing behind them. "But I'm afraid I must have a word with Miss Granger if that is to happen. I must talk to Miss Granger, if you would excuse us."

Lily blushed and stood up, tucking her wand away and left.

"I would like for you to tell me everything."

_Dammit._

* * *

**_You lucky souls! I have updated early! Well, that chapter was fun to write. Kind of._**

**_So, in response to Lionswing, who reviewed last chapter, the war started in their sixth year and was waged further and further until Voldemort really came to power. He hadn't actually been widely known until he started murdering the most powerful witches and wizards known, which happened after their sixth year. They, sadly, weren't trained nor prepared for the outside world, so they went out into the world without knowing a thing about protecting themselves._**

**_Go Dumbledore! Yay!_**

**_Anyway, I'm sorry this one is so short, but I had set my mind on updating tonight and I have to get ready for a party tonight that's actually going on in an hour. So, see you in a bit while I go get glammed up or get seriously drunk on Pepsi!_**

**_Is that even possible?_**

**_Love,_**

**_Marlene_**


	6. Horror

Hermione felt tears pool in her eyes as the portrait swung shut behind her friend, leaving her alone with the Headmaster, whose bright blue eyes had lost their merry sparkle and were replaced with a grave, almost desperate look. "I can't," she whimpered, shocked such a broken sound had rippled from her own lips and clamping her lips shut. "I can't do it."

The sounds just seemed to automatically slip from her mouth, almost as if something in his eyes had made her relent and give in to the sobbing mass she should have been by then. "Yes, you can," said Dumbledore fiercely, gripping her elbows and shaking her slightly, looking deeper and deeper into her mind. "We wish to help you, Hermione, you need to let us!"

She shook her head and he pushed his crooked nose toward her face, glaring fiercely down at the shaking witch. "I w-won't! I won't let people die for me again! I won't!" He looked down at her almost sympathetically, yet his grip tightened all the more.

"From what you had said yesterday evening, we will all die anyway if you don't tell us how to defeat the Dark Lord!" bellowed Dumbledore; his face was the most alive, fiery almost, it had ever been in her presence and his eyes seemed to glow with their own ferocity that had reared up out of nowhere. "You must tell us so we can create the world we deserve! We must save what is left of this good earth! And to do so, we need you!"

Hermione sobbed openly as the older wizard looked down his crooked nose at her, clutching her arms around her torso and closing her eyes. "I can't let people die! Not again!"

Dumbledore nodded fiercely. "Then tell me! Hermione, you must tell me! We must save what is left of this god forsaken world!"

"NO!" shouted Hermione, standing up and prising herself out of his grip. "I will not have more people than necessary know and go down with this hell! I will either die in the end or come out victorious, and I want either way for everyone I have come to love to live!"

Her Headmaster nodded fiercely, grabbing her arms and standing up beside her, his face so close to hers she almost backed down; however, she stood where she was and glared defiantly up at him, valiantly showing her Gryffindor pride. "And if you don't tell us, we will all die in a futile attempt at putting things right! You cannot tell us not to save this world for the people we love and you cannot tell us not to stand our ground for what we believe in! There will always be people like us! You need to see that you are this world's only hope as being the light that shines through the darkness! We need this information, Miss Granger, and we are willing to use force to save this damned world!"

Hermione glared up at him, her lip trembling and her face pale, but she nonetheless stood her ground. "I will always be the light that shines through the darkness, sir, because there is no chance I will ever stop shining. The magic in me does not die when it is weakened, because what does not kill you makes you stronger." She sighed, relaxing as more tears slid down her pale cheeks. "But I will tell the Order about the future and the fates this world will bring them. You have won, Headmaster, but I don't guarantee that you will win every time."

"Thank you, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore quietly, taking her by the shoulders and pushing her in front of him toward the portrait. She allowed him to push her gently to the foot of the staircase, where a curious statue granted them entry.

She paused outside the door, her hand wavering on the doorknob as she turned it, but one stern glance from the Headmaster told her to continue. Hermione pushed open the door and walked into the silent room full of people whose chatter had stopped immediately when she and Dumbledore had walked in.

"You have briefed them?" said Hermione coldly, taking the nearest seat and avoiding everyone's eyes as she looked into the Headmaster's. He nodded and she inhaled, letting the air leave her lungs for a moment before exhaling, sighing slightly. "As you all know, I am from the future. Does anyone know which year?"

One woman, with long, blonde hair and a kind, pale face, her hazel eyes huge as she nodded. "Albus has told us you are from 1998. But what I don't see is how."

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know either," she said carefully, avoiding everyone trying to catch her eye with a cold demeanour. She turned to them again, meeting the same hazel eyes that belonged to James Potter. "My name is Hermione Jean Granger, born on September 19th, 1979. I'm nineteen."

"And they let you join the seventh years to do your NEWTs again?" asked Marlene McKinnon sceptically, making the young witch smile and nod.

"I never did my NEWTs – come to think of it, I never attended my seventh year, either," she replied truthfully, shrugging. "Harry and Ron had to talk me out of dragging them back to Hogwarts, though, so I wasn't really happy about it. But I wouldn't have had it any other way now – because it helped defeat Voldemort."

Marlene McKinnon and the Prewett twins leaned forward eagerly, looking pleased, while the others exchanged weary glances. "How could three seventeen year old children missing their last year be of any help to us?" snarled Caradoc Dearborn slightly aggressively, but Dorcas Meadowes impatiently shushed him and leaned forward.

Hermione couldn't stop herself from laughing. "We were a lot more than three seventeen year old children, Dearborn, and we were the ones who actually defeated Voldemort, so I'd shut up if I were you and just hear me out."

Caradoc Dearborn looked as if he was about to argue, as did many others, but the three young girls shushed them. Marlene McKinnon, Mary MacDonald, and Dorcas Meadowes all looked eagerly at her, beaming.

"I'm going to tell you the story of Tom Riddle," said Hermione slowly, "and the demonic psychopath he grew up to be. Tom Riddle's mother was a pureblooded witch with Gaunt blood, descended from Salazar Slytherin himself. They were a poor family, however pure their lineage was, and they lived in a shack on top of a hill, not too far from Little Hangleton.

"Merope Gaunt watched a muggle named Tom Riddle ride past every day, and soon she grew to love him. She continuously brewed love potions and fed them to this muggle and together they married and had a son. But three weeks into her pregnancy Merope felt it right to stop feeding her muggle husband the love potion, and he left her for another woman. She ran away from home after her father kicked her out for mating with a muggle.

"She gave birth to Tom Riddle Junior in a small pub, where she later died during her son's birth. Tom grew up in a muggle orphanage, terrorising the other children because they teased him for killing his mother. He was brought to Hogwarts by Albus Dumbledore, who gave him home until he was sorted into Slytherin. Tom soon found out about his heritage, and hated the world for giving him such a bad life. He blamed his father, who he killed later on in his life.

"He hated muggles because they had hated him, and he soon fashioned a new name for himself." She paused, reaching for her wand and inscribing the words 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' in the air. Many drew in deep breaths when she rearranged them to 'I am Lord Voldemort'. "Lord Voldemort graduated Hogwarts and rose to power.

"Voldemort made seven Horcruxes in my time, though now it should be only five." Shocked gasps rang out the room, and many stared at her as though she had grown three heads as well as a giraffe's neck. "And one of them he made unwillingly.

"You see, there was a Prophecy made shortly after this year by Sybill Trelawney, who was being interviewed for the Divination Professor's post for next year. She told of a boy born at the end of July, who would defeat the Dark Lord himself. She said neither could live while the other survives. Albus attempted to keep this hidden, but what he hadn't known until later, there was a Death Eater just outside his door. Thankfully, there were only two possible choices for young Severus Snape – tell his master, or switch to the Order. He was not planning on joining the losing side, you see, so he told Lord Voldemort of the Prophecy and soon the Dark Lord was on rampage, seeking out every boy born at the end of July.

"Lily and James Potter's son, Harry, was born at the end of July, 1980. He had messy, jet black hair and his mother's bright emerald eyes. Alice and Frank Longbottom's son, Neville, was also born at the end of July, 1980."

Frank Longbottom inhaled sharply, very white in the face, and buried his face in his hands; Dorea Potter looked as if she was going to faint she was clutching her husband's arm so tightly; and Charlus Potter looked as if he was trying not to throw up.

"Lord Voldemort ordered his most trusted servants – Bellatrix, Rabastan, and Rudolphus Lestrange – to torture information out of the Longbottom's. Thankfully, Neville was with his Grandmother when the three Death Eaters burst into their small house on the edge of Godric's Hollow, but Frank and Alice were not so lucky.

"Frank and Alice did not give any information to the Death Eaters, and refused to let them know where the Order was, so the three Death Eaters tortured them into insanity," Hermione paused, letting the information sink in, making Frank stand up and leave the room. The room's occupants were in uproar; the twins were shouting at her, Dumbledore and Moody looked very grave, the three girls were crying, and the majority of the room was silent. Finally, after a good few minutes, the twins had stopped shouting and Frank had returned, looking green, and Hermione was able to start once more.

"So, this left Lily and James Potter. Voldemort knew Harry would be the one who would defeat him; because he saw some of himself in little baby Harry. They were both half-bloods, and he thought that if he managed to eradicate him, there would be no chance of his defeat. Thankfully, he didn't have to torture anybody, because there had been a spy in the Order of the Phoenix for quite a while. Peter Pettigrew had been feeding Voldemort information because he was too cowardly, too eager for powerful friends, to stand up for himself. The worst thing was, when the Potter's had gone into hiding, they had gone under the Fidelius Charm – and Peter Pettigrew was their Secret Keeper.

"Voldemort crashed into the Potter's home on Halloween, 1981, after pulling the information out of Peter, who really hadn't been that reluctant. Upon his entering, James Potter pushed his wife and child up the stairs and threw himself in front of the staircase and refused to move. Both Lily and James were wandless, and had no way of escaping the house without killing themselves and their son. James stood no chance against Voldemort, and he knew this, but blocked the stairway and refused to move unless he was killed. His opponent caught on, and killed him.

"He pushed on upstairs to the nursery, where Lily had barricaded the door and was trying to find a way out. However, she knew it was futile, and when Voldemort burst in, she shielded Harry from Voldemort, refusing to move, like her husband. When she was killed, an old magic buried deep within time was revoked, and a display of Lily's love was pushed between Voldemort and Harry.

"When Voldemort fired the killing curse at Harry, the curse rebounded and struck Voldemort himself."

Hermione looked up, choking on tears once more, and faced the silent room around her. Marlene was sniffling loudly and trying not to cry; Mary was sobbing openly beside Benjy Fenwick, who held her slightly uncomfortably while attempting not to start sobbing himself; Dorcas and Caradoc were clutching the other's hand tightly, white in the face and eyes wide; Dumbledore looked stricken while Moody looked slightly proud of the two adults in the house that night; Frank had stood up and left the room again, and there was a distinct sound of crashing outside; the twins had gone silent, their freckles standing out against their deathly pale faces.

Finally, she shifted her gaze toward the two Potter's. Dorea was sobbing loudly, clutching her chest and almost whispering while she repeated "Not Jamie, not Jamie," over and over, while Charlus looked horrified and pale.

"I'm sorry," said Hermione automatically, her voice betraying the shaking, quivering, broken girl she was inside as she stood up and made to leave the room. However, a hand catching on her wrist stopped her and she looked up into Frank's worried face.

"Nothing for you to be sorry for," said Gideon loudly from behind them as Frank towed Hermione back into the silent room. Many were nodding determinedly, while others agreed. "And how do you know this, anyway? I would think the Ministry would have been very hush-hush about it."

Hermione laughed, surprising the room. "Hagrid retrieved Harry from the ruins of the house," she winced, "and gave him to Dumbledore – after that, he joined Rosmerta in the  
Three Broomstick's and drunk himself stupid. He let slip to the whole pub that Voldemort was gone and the Potter's were dead. Rosmerta told me in the aftermath of the war all about it while the Weasley's were with Fred at St Mungo's and Harry and I were sitting in what was left of the Great Hall. He was crying about it for weeks afterwards, she said."

Frank offered her a small smile. "Is Hagrid a part of the Order?"

"Yes," replied Hermione instantly, brightening a bit. "He was one of the best during the Final Battle. He convinced most of the giants to fight for us and got most of the Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest to, too. He also killed around twenty Death Eaters before…"

"Before what?" asked Dumbledore, looking slightly horrified.

"The Acromantula he hadn't managed to convince for us killed him," Hermione choked out a second later. "I – I'm sorry for making s-such a big f-fuss but Hagrid w-was the one w-who comforted m-me after M-Malfoy called me a M-Mudblood for the first t-time and w-we were always f-friends after that. Harry c-cried for h-hours b-because he w-was the first o-one who didn't s-seem to see him as the Boy-Who-Lived. We b-barely got h-him back from t-trying to enter t-the Forbidden Forest t-to kill the spiders t-that did it."

Dorea looked up at her after a moment of silence before asking, "How bad was the world you lived in?"

* * *

_**Yay! Five Chapters! Woo!**_

_**Love,**_

_**Marlene**_


	7. I'm So Sorry, Severus

Lily slipped out of the portrait, giving a half-hearted wave to a smirking Evanna before hurrying down the corridor towards the Gryffindor Common Room with her cheeks flaming. She gave a small smile to the Fat Lady – who was talking to her friend from the portrait downstairs, Violet – and was surprised when the portrait hole swung right open without her speaking at all. "It's the holidays," said the Fat Lady tipsily, "and, besides, you've been here for seven years and we haven't been here long enough to brew any sort of potion and I'm pretty sure none of the seventh years can do a glamour charm… so… happy birthday!" Lily giggled nervously and slipped through, leaning against the nearest armchair with a sigh of relief.

A blur of blonde hair launched at her from the loveseat across from her, and Alice tackled her onto the carpet with a giddy grin. "Where have you been?" she demanded, perching on her stomach and looking down at her with narrowed brown eyes and a small frown knitting her eyebrows together. "I've been waiting for you for three hours now and Sirius even stopped by to laugh at me!"

She chuckled and sat up, rubbing her stomach. "Merlin, Alice, I feel like a Hippogriff just sat on me," she groaned, propping herself up on the coffee table with a small smirk. "Did you put on weight over the summer or did you just decide to show me how fat you really are now?"

Alice aimed a kick to her shins and rolled her eyes. "Where have you been?" she repeated adamantly, looking eagerly down at her.

"If you simply must know, I've been with a new friend today," she said. "You know Hermione Granger joined last night, right?" Alice nodded. "I talked to her and we became friends by the lake. We splashed around for a bit and then she took me to her private rooms on the third floor. Then we talked for a while and she's a very, very kind person. She's a nineteen year old muggleborn who skipped out on her seventh year to help in the war."

"Why does she have a private room?" inquired Alice, leaning forward.

Lily sighed. "She came here during the summer holidays and McGonagall wasn't here so she hadn't reset the password or given her the old one. So Dumbledore gave her one of the old guest rooms. Then Dumbledore came in to talk to her about something or other. Oh, and, by the way, leave the Fat Lady alone for a while – she's hopelessly drunk."

Alice giggled and sat up, offering a hand to Lily. "Well, then, why don't we ask her to room with us in the dormitories? Marlene and Cassie told me they were arriving late this year so we have them all to ourselves for a while. Do you want to go and paint our nails and talk about boys?"

"Oh Merlin no, that's their thing. Let's be weird for one night, OK? Before the forces of evil dim the dorm again?" said Lily, and Alice nodded her agreement before the two of them linked arms and skipped to their usual homework spot in the corner of the Common Room. "So… how do we be weird?"

"Let's consult the kings of weird, 'kay?" suggested Alice, and Lily cast a nervous glance towards the Marauders, who were raucously laughing by the fire and attempting to entertain a few second years. "Please, Lily? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Pretty please with freaking sugar! I'll pay you!"

She laughed and relented, allowing her best friend to grab her arm and tug her by the wrist to the other side of the Common Room. "What was the point of sitting down if you just drag me away a few seconds later, Alice?" she wondered aloud as her friend gave a small snort before shoving her in front of her, using her as a shield as they entered the small circle the Marauders had made with their chairs before the fire.

James was draped over both arms of the chair, the stolen Snitch hovering above his head, which was lolling over the edge of the sofa which, coincidentally, messed up his hair more than it usually looked. Sirius and Remus were wrestling boisterously on the carpets with their hair mussed and their grins ever-present as they bellowed half-hearted insults at each other. Peter was squeaking out high-pitched laughter; he had joined the boys in the Common Room after their time at the lake and had been with them ever since.

"That's absurd!" roared Sirius, through barked laughter as he rolled over to pin Remus by his wrists, who was laughing uncontrollably.

"You're absurd!" bellowed Remus.

"Say that again!"

"You're absurd!"

"That's absurd!"

The two them fell about laughing, Sirius propped against the coffee table and Remus clutching his sides and doubling over, his back straight on the ground. Lily smiled fondly and collapsed in a loveseat and Alice rolled her eyes before perching on the coffee table beside the estranged Black. "What brings you here, girls?" asked James calmly, though they could see the twitch of his lips as he looked at them.

Lily huffed and folded her arms. "Well excuse me if I didn't know that this Common Room belonged to the almighty James Potter…"

Alice slapped Lily upside the head and ignored her protests, smiling. "Well, Cassie and Marlene aren't back until tomorrow because they're going to be late for term this year. We were wondering if we could hang out with you lot tonight. We need to be weird for a while and you are the weirdest people we know," she added, and Lily gave a snort of laughter before she clamped a hand over her mouth with her eyes wide.

Remus burst out laughing again, having just caught his breath, and Sirius barked another laugh before slinging an arm around Alice's waist. She elbowed him roughly in the ribs and he drew back, frowning in mock-hurt. "I'm in love with Frank, idiot," she growled, standing up and sitting at the base of James' chair. "Besides, I don't go for idiots."

"Do you go for pathetic losers, then?" asked a tired voice from behind them, and Hermione grinned weakly before collapsing beside Alice with a sigh of relief. "Ugh, I hate talking about my life – I've had the worst possible day in the whole freaking world!"

"You want to bet?" asked Lily dryly before slipping to her knees beside Hermione, grinning at Alice. "Alice, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Alice Prewett."

"Hi, Hermione," said Alice, elbowing Lily out of the way and offering her hand to Hermione, who smiled tiredly and took it. "Are you alright? You look like a Hippogriff just sat on your mother."

Hermione smiled. "Yeah, I feel like it to," she agreed, tilting her head back to grin up at James. "Hello, pathetic," she said, and he grinned. "It's been around three hours since I last saw you."

He nodded, grinning still. "Hey, Herman," he said, and she flinched before scowling up at him. "Did something happen that we're not supposed to know about?" James leaned forward eagerly, and Sirius followed his lead, beaming at her and tugging at her slightly-less bushy hair as she rolled her eyes and shook her head fondly.

"Nothing you should worry your delicate little head about, James," she said tiredly, patting his head patronisingly as he pouted childishly about her. "You know, just had to pour out my soul to people I hardly know. Nothing major." Lily snorted again and Alice giggled while Remus rolled his eyes and Sirius barked another laugh and James groaned.

"Who's up for a walk?" she said, leaping to her feet suddenly and bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement as Alice joined her, latching onto her arm and proclaiming, "Oh, I like her!" to the Marauders, who grinned and stood as Lily gaped at them.

"You can't be serious?"

"No, that's me," said Sirius cheekily, earning a swat on the arm for it as Lily sighed and stood up, taking Hermione's other arm and glaring mock-threateningly up at her. "If you kill me, woman, my mother would thank you."

Hermione giggled and shook her head, bouncing out of the portrait hole with Alice, who grinned at her and beckoned a gaping Lily after them. James and Sirius linked arms with Remus and followed their lead, beaming as Peter squeaked out an apology and scurried upstairs. "Come on, I know the perfect…" she trailed off as she came face-to-face with a frowning Severus Snape, who was wearing his dressing-gown and looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

Lily almost ran into her back, peering over her shoulder to see what was happening. She made a noise of disgust and made to tug Hermione and Alice behind her on the way down the corridor, but Snape had grabbed her arm out of desperation. "Please, Lily, forgive me. I'll do anything…"

"Would you forgive me, Snape?" snarled Lily, pulling on Hermione's arm, but the girl stayed fixed in place for a moment before taking a step towards him. He looked at her desperately, as though she could have changed her mind, but she just stared at him. "Come on, Hermione, he's a Death Eater!"

"Is he?" asked Hermione curiously. "Because I think that pushing him away is more likely to make him one than save him from Lord Voldemort, don't you think?" Lily seemed to splutter for a moment and gape between her and Snape, who looked relieved and thankful and angered all at the same time. "You remind me of someone I used to know," she said after a moment, and Snape's eyes narrowed. "We all hated him for a long, long time because we thought he was a Death Eater, when he turned out to be a double-agent for Dumbledore. He was the bravest man we ever knew."

Snape looked pleadingly at Lily. The Marauders stood behind Alice, who looked as though she was very shocked, and they weren't much better, but Hermione ploughed on. "Don't judge people on their words, Lily, it's their actions that matter and their choices that make it better. Had he moved on and ignored you, I would have hated him, too. But he hasn't given up on you, and you shouldn't either."

Lily protested. "I'm done associating with Death Eaters, Hermione. You know full well what they're capable of yourself – you did help in the war – and he's chosen his path. We've chosen ours, haven't we?" she paused as she looked up at Hermione, who looked sadly down at her.

"Yes, Lily, I know what they're capable of," she said quietly, turning to Snape, whose face had gone utterly blank for a moment. "But that's why we should be helping them to turn away from Voldemort. You aren't like the cold-blood killers I've faced before, and if we keep shunning him then he very well might turn into that person. This is why we have to help them, because if we don't they'll turn out like Voldemort. In a way, all you've done by ignoring and hating him is helping him choose what side of the war he's on, Lily. People can hold grudges for a very long time and you don't want anything happening to the people you love, do you? If you can't forgive him for yourself, because Dumbledore had told me how happy you had been with him, then forgive him for those you love."

"But he called me a Mudblood, Hermione! I can't forgive him for that!"

Hermione huffed and folded her arms. "I've had that all of my life, Lily, because of my blood heritage. I know how much it hurts, trust me. But it's just a bloody word! I will never understand why people are so afraid of a word or so deeply hurt by a word that they can ignore childhood memories and shun the people they love! If you fear a name it only increases your fear of the thing itself, and if you're terrified of a word then why are you living?"

Alice nodded suddenly. "Like L-Lord V-V-Voldemort," she stammered, and Lily inhaled sharply while the Marauders looked at her incredulously. "Of course! That's how he plans on gaining power, because if we fear his name, it only increases our fear of who he is and not what he has done! Hermione, I may have only just met you, but I know you're a genius."

"Mudblood is just a word," murmured Hermione, placing her hands on Lily's shoulders and looking down at her shaking form with sorrowful eyes. "That's all it is – a word. And if you fear words then what will you do with your life? How will you react if you get called that word? I learnt a long time ago that if you hide from someone because you fear them it will get you nowhere. Hiding gets you nowhere. And why hide from a word, anyway? That's all it is, a word. So why fear a word or a name? It only makes you fear the thing itself without you realising what it is. I know better than others that you can overcome your fear of a word, Lily.

"But I still can't forgive him!"

Hermione sighed and turned her head towards the Fat Lady, who grinned tipsily at her before passing out against the doorframe. "If you're around people who say words like that and you're taught the word isn't bad as you grow up, would you have used it?" Lily nodded slowly, biting her lip. "If you're shunned from the world because you're in a certain house, would you have hated others?" Lily nodded again. "Then why blame him for using that word? You would do the same. He was taught the word was OK, and you can't blame him for using it if you would do the same as he did."

Lily turned to Snape and he looked at her hopefully. She sized him up for a moment before flinging herself forwards, wrapping her arms around him tightly and apologizing profusely over and over again. "I shouldn't have said it," replied Snape, squeezing her just as tightly as she began to cry silently. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," muffled Lily over her shoulder at Hermione, who only smiled in reply and took a step backwards toward the Marauders. "I'm sorry, Severus…"

"How about that walk, then?" said Hermione softly, grabbing Alice and James by their arms and towing them down the corridor in the other direction, leaving Lily and Severus to get to know each other again.


	8. Order Meetings and Corridor Greetings

Dorea froze, her face paling and her hand slapping over her mouth. The words, it appeared, hadn't properly registered in her subconscious before they slipped out, and now she was paying the price. Hermione whirled around and turned to face her, eyes cold. "Do I have to answer that?" she growled, and Dorea shook her head frantically. Hermione sighed and turned to Dumbledore, whose eyes had lost their ever-present sparkle. "If you would say it, this meeting, I propose, would be better off finished next meeting. I'd like to get something done before we continue." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, frowning slightly and she felt him probing her mind. She sighed and shoved him out. He nodded approvingly and she turned on her heel and left the chamber.

Dorcas leaned forward to Dumbledore with a small smirk playing on her lips. "So… can we go back to school or are we just going to sit here until next meeting?" she asked, and Marlene elbowed her roughly before sending a pleading look towards Dumbledore, who shook his head.

"This meeting is not finished yet," replied Charlus, and Dorcas sighed before leaning back and yawning. "We have to make some battle strategies if anywhere is attacked. We must be prepared for battle anywhere, for we don't know where You-Know-Who will strike next."

"But I'm tired!" groaned Dorcas, and Marlene huffed and shoved her off the nearest chair, proclaiming, "Shut up, you look like an idiot, Cassie."

Cassandra Godwineson rolled her eyes and rested her head on Gideon's shoulder. "I don't know, Marley, I'm tired, too. Could we not call it a night, Dumbledore?" she yawned and closed her eyes, only for her wayward cat to leap onto her lap and startle her awake. "God, Hades, you scared me."

Fabian cleared his throat and leaned back, looking around the room. "I think the students should learn how to fight," he said, and Caradoc scoffed and shook his head. "Look, if they get out there without knowing how to defend themselves they'll die. If we teach them how to take care of the Death Eaters and protect themselves they'll fare far better than we did, right, Gideon?"

Gideon nodded. "We had to take muggle martial-arts lessons to prepare ourselves. Auror training was the most difficult thing I'd done in my life after we got out of Hogwarts, and it'd be a lot better for everyone if they could actually think for themselves."

"I always thought they should teach common sense, logic, and defence mechanisms at Hogwarts," said Dorcas approvingly. "When I moved last summer we were attacked and I couldn't defend the people in the village because I didn't know how. The students should learn how to defend themselves, at least if it's only in seventh year. Then we won't be completely defenceless."

"No one will be teaching defence in my school apart from the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher!" broke in Dumbledore, frowning. "Yes, I completely agree that they should know how to defend themselves and I know they should have learned it early on, but this is a school, not an army camp! We can't expect the students to give up their free time to learn something that they may not need!"

Cassandra frowned. "With all due respect, sir, you once told me yourself that it's best to be prepared for anything the world can throw at you. If the world throws Voldemort at us, what should we do? If we don't learn to defend ourselves, then how can we?"

Dumbledore stood up and began to pace. "For all we know, Voldemort may be gone by the end of the year and then their training will be for nothing." Cassandra began to protest but he cut her off with a wave of his hand, sharply turning to her to frown sternly at her. "Miss Godwineson, I don't believe that you have a say in what goes on in my school, and I'd appreciate it if a seventh year student didn't question the Headmaster."

"Why are they in the Order, anyway?" interjected Caradoc, sneering as Dorcas stood up and made to swing a punch to the head for him. Had Cassandra and Marlene not grabbed her arms and yanked her back in her seat, she would've landed it.

"Last summer we were attacked," repeated Dorcas, "my parents and brothers were killed, so when I came back to Hogwarts, I told Dumbledore about it. I wanted to stop Voldemort at all costs, avenge my family, I guess." She paused and glared at Caradoc. "What I want to know is why you think you're better than everybody else, Dearborn. Pureblood, I assume?"

Marlene frowned. "My sister and I were in the woods one day, coming up towards Potter Manor for an afternoon visit for James, when something leapt out of the bushes at us. Dolohov killed my sister and I've been in the Order ever since."

Mary grinned at them. "Your reasons are pretty legit, but mine's just because I wanted to stand up to them. I got bullied in every school I went to because I'm muggleborn and I wanted to help others like me." Dorcas grinned back and patted her arm.

"I lived in a small town called Ottery St Catchpole," said Cassandra, and Molly and Arthur beamed at her. "I thought I was a Squib, so I didn't go to Hogwarts. See, I'd never shown much adept in magic, and my parents home-schooled me in muggle and magical things at the same time. It was fun, but when Molly told me about Voldemort and his Death Eaters I wanted to do something about it around the same time I started my fifth year and transferred to Hogwarts. But I only joined the Order at the beginning of the summer."

"So… you are pureblood, right?" asked Dorcas, leaning forward and glaring at him unashamedly as he nodded, shrugging as though he didn't care. Marlene sighed and dragged her back up by the arm, punching her.

"This is no time for petty squabbles, the both of you," said Fabian, leaning over and kicking Caradoc in the shins, as his twin snorted. "That's our job. Besides, this is getting us nowhere on battle tactics." Gideon nodded.

Cassandra nodded eagerly. "I love stuff like that," she said. "I'll never understand why you guys like the actual battle part. Blood and guts and gore aren't my thing and it should be no one's." She swatted Gideon, who grinned wolfishly down at her before she leaned in and pecked him on the lips, causing him to grin and kiss her on the forehead as he dragged her back down. "Right, so… how about we split into groups? It'd be much more practical than running around together while trying to take down as many Death Eaters as possible…" She trailed off when she saw the people staring at her. "I thought it was a good idea," she said in a small voice and Gideon grinned at her.

"It's brilliant," said Fabian, clapping her on the shoulder. "Almost as brilliant as that toilet-seat prank we pulled on Molly last week." His sister sent him a withering look and he grinned at her, causing her to intensify it and make him cower and hide behind Mary, who shoved him away.

"Yes, yes, it's fabulous, now can we get to the point?" said Alastor Moody gruffly. "How many in each group and who's going where?"

Dumbledore put a hand on Cassandra's shoulder and nodded down at her. "That was good thinking, Cassandra, well done." He looked at Moody, who gave her a hint of a gruff grin before glaring at the Prewett twins, who were trying to slip something into his drink. "We need some mixed generations here," continued Dumbledore, and Cassandra nodded. "Cassandra, Dorea, Alastor, Caradoc, Arthur, Dorcas, and Charlus, perhaps, should be the first group; Gideon, Marlene, Molly, Fabian, Hestia, Dedalus, and Benjy; myself, Rose, Susan, Lucifer, Jennifer, Oliver, and Avery would be third. Have I missed anyone out?"

No one said anything, and Dumbledore nodded for conformation, as Moody had been writing it all down, acting as the Order's scribe. He then stood up and dismissed the group.

Marlene and Dorcas immediately grabbed Cassandra's arms and began tugging her towards the Gryffindor Common Room when they reached the corridor below Dumbledore's office, but found the Fat Lady passed out against the frame. "Ugh, she's still drunk?" asked a familiar voice and the trio whirled around and faced Alice with beams on their faces.

"ALICE!" shrieked all three of them, launching themselves forward and tackling her to the ground. Alice attempted to shove them off, but the three of them were too strong and they ended up on the floor of the corridor, laughing and giggling as Alice tried to fight them off in vain. "Where's Lily?" bellowed Dorcas as Alice kicked her off the pile, grinning up at the four Marauders and Hermione who was watching them amusedly.

"She's catching up with Snape," grumbled Remus, and Hermione patted his hair patronisingly and ducked the swat he had aimed for her head. "I still don't understand why you convinced Lily to forgive him, Hermione, he's a right git."

Hermione snorted and grinned at the three, offering her hand to Dorcas, who took it eagerly and pulled her on top of her. "Severus isn't a git, Remus Lupin!" shouted a voice from down the corridor and a beaming Lily Evans threw herself on top of Hermione, who gave a small scream and rolled over to start wrestling with Dorcas.

Sirius beamed at all of them before saluting to James and leaping on top of the dog-pile, causing Marlene to shriek and flail around as he crushed her ribs. "My ribs – I need those!" she shrieked, shoving him off with a grin on her face as James leapt on top of Sirius and the two began wrestling, much in the same way that Hermione and Dorcas were.

At some point, Remus looked around at the corridor with a small smile playing at his lips. James and Sirius were back to back with Hermione and Marlene – respectively – pushing at their hands and attempting to push them down the stairs. Lily was slung over Sirius' shoulder and giggling as Dorcas tackled Sirius to the ground and sending all three of them spiralling to the ground. He shrugged and leapt at Cassandra, who was panting as she held herself up against the wall, having just escaped Sirius herself. She screamed as he grabbed her around the waist and twirled her around in the air, waving her arms around in an attempt to escape.

The corridor was full of screaming, squealing students messing around, flailing and wrestling around. Alice was propped up against the wall, using a camera to record the whole thing as Hermione rolled on top of James, standing on his knees and using his hands for a balance beam as she grinned down at him and he grinned up at her.

"What is the meaning of this?!" exclaimed the voice of Professor McGonagall, and Alice's camera caught a glimpse of her angered face before she quickly stopped recording and hid the camera behind her back, knowing it would be taken away if it was caught.

"Hehe," said Hermione, collapsing on top of James and rolling over to smile sheepishly up at the Professor, who glared at them all. "The Fat Lady got drunk and we were locked out so we… we started having fun."

"Fun?" questioned Frank Longbottom, showing up at her elbow and causing Alice to give a small scream. "Can I join in, please? I haven't had fun since last summer when I was…" He trailed off as McGonagall glared down at him and hurried over to Alice. "Nevermind."

* * *

_**I'm sorry I updated so late, but I had homework to do as well as celebrate Christmas and learn how to play chess. I'm sorry if this chapter really doesn't fit in with the story, but I felt that you all deserved a Christmas, fluffy chapter that could make you feel more happy; I hope you love reading this as much as I loved writing it.**_

_**Also, I've introduced Dorcas, Marlene, Mary, and Cassandra Godwineson a little bit more. What do you think of the pairings? I thought that Caradoc could be a little bit more like the argumentative type and that Dorcas could be competitive, and their personalities clashed a little bit. Like Lily and James, though they'll ultimately get together in the end.**_

_**James and Hermione's relationship will get a little bit more intimate as the story progresses, and then they'll ultimately get together. Lily has never liked him, but instead liked his best friend, Remus, because he was a bit more down-to-earth and studious, like her, so they clicked more than James had. Sirius is not going to really come into the equation much, apart from when he fancies Hermione for a while before moving on to... Oops, giving away something more than I should've...**_

_**Love,**_

_**Marlene**_


	9. Always

Hermione had woken up the morning after, spread across a sofa in the Gryffindor Common Room, feeling sickly and ill. She gave a small moan and tried to sit up, but her stomach protested and sent her spiralling back onto the sofa with a small groan of pain. Lily, Alice, and Dorcas were chatting animatedly, each of them leaning over the coffee table with their heads bent together, but there was no sign of anybody else. Lily looked up when she heard her, and stood up and hurried to her side. "Are you alright?" she asked concernedly, but Hermione just shot her a look that plainly said, "Do I look like I'm alright?"

She made to sit up again, Lily holding her left shoulder to steady her, but her stomach erupted in pain and she cried out and collapsed back into the sofa cushions, clutching her torso and moaning. Cassandra appeared from behind the sofa worriedly and Hermione gave a small moan before clamping her eyes shut. "What's wrong with her?" asked Alice frantically, grasping her hand as she cried out.

"Cassie, go and get the boys," Lily instructed. "Andi, go and talk to Madame Pomfrey. We can't move her without risking something or other. Tell her we're looking after her, but I have no clue whatsoever what's wrong with her." Dorcas nodded and raced up the stairs, calling out for the boys with a worried expression plastered onto her features; Cassandra sent a concerned glance at Hermione, who had been whimpering while Lily had talked, before turning heel and hurrying through the portrait hole. "Hermione, what's wrong? Hermione?"

"I – don't – know!" Hermione managed to bite out before her eyes were pried open, looking up at Lily, full of pain and hopelessness. "I – really – don't – know…" She trailed off as the boys came thundering down the stairs, eyes wide and full of worry as James and Sirius both clattered to their knees beside her. Her eyes were screwed shut in pain, her teeth clamping down on her lower lip and her skin paler than it had been when they first saw her. "Shit," she groaned again, one of her legs bending slightly and her torso erupting in more pain. Hermione cried out again and Lily looked frantically at the boys, who all looked pale and worried, clueless as to what was wrong.

Dorcas came crashing down, Frank running after her. "Has she gotten worse? Is Cassandra back yet? How is she doing?" she gasped out, collapsing beside Hermione and grabbing her free hand as she gave another moan of pain, her leg almost whacking Remus in the side of the head. "Hermione, can you hear me?"

Hermione gave out a small scream as a response and curled in on herself, her hands tightening and her limbs clamping together. "It – it fucking hurts," she whimpered, prying her eyes open to look brokenly at James and Lily, who both looked at ends of what to do about it. Quite suddenly the portrait hole slammed open and Madame Pomfrey ran in, looking white in the face and Cassandra scurried in after her, looking shocked.

"She shows signs of enduring the after-effects of the Cruciatus Curse," said Madame Pomfrey after a moment, taking Lily's place beside Hermione. "Merlin knows why a child so young has been under the Cruciatus Curse…"

"She's nineteen," said Lily suddenly. "She skipped out on her original seventh year to  
help in the war. She must've been tortured for information while she was there." Lily's eyes were full of tears. "Poor 'Mione, what did they do to you?"

Hermione responded with another scream, drawn-out and pained as she let out a small sob, tears of her own sliding relentlessly down her pale cheeks. Madame Pomfrey sat back on her heels, looking hopeless. "I can't do anything to help her until it wears out," she said quietly. "She's still able to hear you, and you might be able to help her through it. Come and fetch me if there is a change in her condition." She stood up, cast a sorrowful glance back at Hermione, who was sobbing inbetween screams, and left.

James swallowed and looked sadly down at her, taking her hand in his own. She looked so small, so frail, as she lay there, sobbing and screaming. He had never thought that he would ever see the day when he regretted every day of his life, watching the war happen around him and not doing a thing to stop beautiful people like her take their fate as if they were soldiers, taking the pain like they were used to it without a single complaint. He had never felt this way about someone he had only just met, but something had made him love her instantly, as if he would be the only one to brush away the tears dragging themselves down her cheeks.

Hermione let out the worst scream yet, ringing out in the empty, silent Common Room and causing Lily to let out a loud sob and turn away. "No – no, please! We didn't steal anything! We didn't steal anything!" she shrieked, sobbing louder than she had done. Hermione grappled for her left forearm, ripping her arm out of Alice's grip to clutch it tightly, curling in on herself with a louder scream than she had let out before. "Please, we didn't – we didn't steal anything! We didn't steal anything! We found it – we found it – we found it in the forest – please!" She gasped for breath and the screams stopped for a moment.

Lily felt arms wrap around her waist tightly as Hermione's neck jerked upwards, as if someone had taken a hold of her hair and yanked it into the air. Her emerald eyes, so full of tears, looked up into Remus' tearing amber ones and she turned into his chest, burying her face in his shirt and sobbing there. He tightened his grip around her and rested his chin on her shoulder, his head atop her hair, and she swore she felt droplets of water run down her neck.

"It's a fake – fake!" shrieked Hermione, clawing at James' arms, which were clinging to her wrists as tightly as possible without causing her more pain. She sprung up in his grip, latching onto his shoulders and sobbing into the crook of his neck. "It's a fake! Please, it's just a fake…"

It felt like forever to Marlene and she sat there on the coffee table, watching her friend writhe and scream and sob into her cousin's shoulder. She sobbed and sobbed the tears she had been holding back for the past hour finally leaking down her pale cheeks like it was their last chance. "Oh Merlin," she whimpered as Hermione's body went slack and fell limply into James' arms, her eyes still clamped shut and her body shuddering every few seconds. A presence beside her made her look up into the worried grey eyes of Sirius Black, who said nothing, but just stared at Hermione as her screams suddenly filled the room once more. "Who would do something like this?" she whispered and Sirius just wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

James watched her scream, her arms clutching his upper arms like they were the only thing keeping her alive. He listened to her shrieks of pain and her pleads of mercy. He felt her writhe against him, screaming. Normally he wouldn't have minded a girl doing this, even taking pleasure in it once upon a time, but now he was disgusted with himself, disgusted for ever wanting a girl to do this for him. "Hermione, you're going to be alright," he said without even registering the words. "I'm here. Lils is here. Cassie and Marls and Andi are here. Padfoot and Moony are here… we're all here for you, 'Mione. We'll always be here."

Hermione gave a whimper and shook in his arms, clutching onto him as if he was her lifeline. "Just a copy," she breathed, her screams suddenly subsiding and her sobs drying as if they were never there. Lily looked up from Remus' chest and gave a sigh of relief, collapsing by her side and pulling her in for a tight hug.

Her eyes fluttered open, slowly yet surely, and she moved her arms to hug Lily back. However, as she did this, she gave another small moan of pain and pulled them into her stomach. All of them were instantly surrounding her at once, each one looking more pained than they had ever remembered. "Shit," she swore as blood began to spread around her middle, but when Lily took a closer look there was no sign of a gash or anything that could have caused the blood.

James took her wrist and slowly pried it away from her stomach, his eyes fixed on the word plastered into her forearm, prominently seeping blood over his fingers. "Who did this?" he growled sharply, and she looked up at him, almost fearing him as he ripped off the lower part of his shirt and bound her arm in it, his eyes not leaving her wide ones. "Who, Hermione?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange," she murmured, and Sirius took a step back and collapsed back onto the coffee table, his eyes flashing with guilt. In an instant, Hermione was on her unsteady feet and was stumbling forward to throw her arms around his neck. "You're not that bitch, Sirius, blood relations don't really restrict who your family is or not." She sat beside him and he looked back at her, thunderstruck. "Look around, Sirius, these people are your family, not her. Besides, do you really think they'd let you take the blame for that insane cow's misadventures?"

Sirius shot her a thankful look, hugging her tentatively back. "Thanks, 'Mione," he said, a grin fighting its way onto his roguish face. "I didn't know you felt that way about me. But, hey, I don't reject girls who throw themselves at me."

Hermione punched him in the arm, but winced when she realised she had punched him with her bleeding arm, and teared up when the pain intensified tenfold. "Ah, someone fetch Madame Pomfrey?" she offered sheepishly, and Cassandra leapt to her feet and scurried out of the room, still sobbing thickly. "Sorry for – you know –breaking down on you like that…"

James sat on her other side. "Hey, it's OK. We all have breakdowns sometimes – it wasn't your fault, anyway."

"Thanks," she replied, and Lily threw herself forward a moment later, embracing the shivering girl as tightly as possible without causing her more pain. "Don't scare us like that again!" declared Marlene, sniffling as she stood up and joined in on the hug, squeezing them both as Dorcas launched herself forward to embrace them all, sobbing still.

Hermione gave a soft laugh as she was flattened to the table, her arms wrapped tightly around three girls she would never have dreamed of hugging before she had travelled through time. She tightened her hold on them, ignoring the flare of pain from her arm and sniffling slightly because of it, knowing she would never embrace the people she would've once preferred to embrace ever again.

James watched, relieved, as Madame Pomfrey and Cassandra crashed back through the portrait hole, both looking thoroughly windswept and white in the face. Hermione grinned at Cassandra, who squealed and hugged her loosely as Madame Pomfrey tugged the other girls off her. "You're fine, Miss Granger, but I think you should take the day off tomorrow," reported Madame Pomfrey after a minute and the others groaned. "You're all excused from classes for the next two days – make sure she eats a lot and drinks quite a bit more than usual. I trust you, as Head Girl and Boy, to take care of her as long as she needs it."

"Of course," responded James, nodding.

"Always," replied Lily solemnly, and, for some strange reason, Hermione laughed.

* * *

_**IMPORTANT**_

_**I**__**'m sorry this is short, but I had to end it here. It seemed a place better than when I'd planned, and I don't regret it. **_

_**Also, if Lionswing is reading this currently, you may not have heard, but I consider you the most avid reader I have here. I have mentioned that the character Cassandra Godwineson is not necessarily based on her personality, for I don't know her personally, but she is in tribute to her wonderful reviews and inspirational suggestions. I will not always be creating new characters, because I have all of the people the story is centred on to cover, but if I meet a few, perhaps good, honest people, then there will occasionally be new characters that I have created in thanks to those people.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Marlene**_


	10. A Warning and a Recovery

He had stayed by her side for hours after she had fallen asleep again, and it had taken the others ten minutes to convince him to go down to the Great Hall and eat something. James huffed irritably as he stabbed his chicken, impaling it with his fork with a malicious glint in his eye, imagining that the chicken was whoever had done that to Hermione.

James glared down the table, silently daring anyone to approach him. Lily and Marlene were comforting Alice, who had broken down sobbing when Hermione had begun murmuring in her sleep again and Remus and Sirius had promised him they'd watch over Hermione. Frank and Cassandra were taking it in turns scouring the library for information or trying to weasel more on her condition from Madame Pomfrey; so far, none of the others had returned.

"How are you holding up, James?" asked a familiar voice, so different now it was not screeching in his ears. Lily perched herself solemnly on the bench opposite him. He gave her a weak smile in return and stabbed his chicken viciously again, and Lily sighed and dug into her food; "Hermione's woken up three times, but Remus managed to convince her to go back to sleep for an hour or two. Alice calmed down a bit, but Marlene and I had quite the time. Andi nor Frank have reported back, so we're assuming they've either got nothing out of Madame Pomfrey or they're too engrossed in their work," they both snorted and a small smile twitched at his lips. "Was that a smile, Potter?" she teased, and he pouted back.

"So we're back to the last-name-basis now, are we?" joked James, and Lily rolled her eyes and turned her gaze to his plate. "How did you escape?"

She grinned at him, tapping the side of her nose. He frowned and she sighed, relenting. "Fine, James, you get her way again. Don't get used to it, though; your head's big enough as it is." Lily rested her chin on her hand, smiling slightly. "Remus… Remus walked in when Alice was hyperventilating and told me that he'd sent you down to eat something, because you hadn't moved in hours. So I slapped Alice 'round the face and then left him to deal with her fit afterwards."

James let out a loud guffaw, but remembered the traumatising day they had all experienced that afternoon. "It's funny, isn't it?" asked Lily after a moment, and he looked up at her questioningly. She gave a one-shouldered shrug and motioned to the door. "We've known Hermione for three days and yet I feel as if I've known her all of my life. She's like a sister to me, and when she screamed like that…" She shuddered, eyeing her plate and rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself. "It scared me so much. I mean, it was so sudden, and she sounded so pained that I wanted to scream right along with her."

"When she sobbed like that, I wanted to cry myself," he admitted quietly, and Lily felt tears pool in her eyes as she reached across the table to pat his hand, smiling sadly. It was a friendly gesture; the movement was neither patronising nor suggestive, but it comforted him to know that she cared and understood how he felt. "It's strange, that she's found herself in the middle of our tight-knit group with seemingly no trouble. It makes me wonder whether we were really that guarded at all, or whether she was meant to be there all along."

Lily smiled sadly. "But we will help her get better," she announced to him, and he grinned at her. "We're going to protect her from whoever did that to her. We'll be there for her." Lily seemed to look slightly reminiscent for a moment, and James knew that she was thinking about her elder sister, Petunia, who had turned her back on family because of magic itself. "We will."

"I know." He said, looking into her perfectly shaped emerald eyes. They were beautifully curved, little flecks of the softest browns dancing in them, dancing with joy and life. She would have no idea, but those eyes would haunt him for the rest of his days.

He had been certain he had fallen in love with those beautiful eyes for the past seven years. However, the arrival of Hermione Granger and his supposed feelings for her had added themselves to the equation and he really wasn't sure how he felt about much anymore. A part of him wanted to turn his back on Lily and turn to Hermione, but another wanted her just as much as he had done in the past. Lily, however, had hated him, turned him down, crushed his heart, and dampened his ego, and yet he chased after her still.

Over the past year, he had noticed the looks of longing Remus had been sending her whenever he thought he wasn't looking, and those looks had been returned unquestioned by Lily. James knew when he was putting something off that could lead his best friends to happiness, and he was. If he wanted Remus to be happy, then Remus was going to be happy, whether the werewolf liked it or not.

"James?" Lily waved a hand in front of his face, looking at him worriedly. "Oh, good, you've come back to earth and joined me," she stated this dryly, but he saw the twitch of her lips as she spoke. "I was just saying that I had better get back to 'Mione. Sirius walked off with some other girl halfway through his watch and I left poor Remus with a hysterical Alice."

James shot her an approving grin and she wiped her mouth with her napkin, shooting him a supportive smile before flitting out of the room. Somehow, there was an air around Lily Evans, and you could not hate her for a thing, no matter how many times she had broken his heart.

It was almost like a constant cycle, whirring repeatedly, the same old daily occurrences seemingly playing them like clockwork. With the ever-threatening rise of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, James Potter figured that tradition needed to be broken, the clock to be stopped and turned back, and for the same old daily occurrences to change.

And when James Potter wanted something, he always got what he wanted.

* * *

_She was standing in the middle of a sunlit meadow, the tall green grass brushing against her skin. The land before her stretched out in what seemed to be and endless expanse of beautiful greenery; the sun was just setting on the horizon, sparkling over the lake and dotting the dozens of trees scattered around her with beautiful rays of light that seemed to make the autumn-tide leaves glitter more merrily, as if covered with dew._

_Hermione's hair was no longer matted and troubled from those hours of endless screaming, but pulled back into a beautiful braid that hung to her waist. Her muggle clothes no longer clung to her skin, but a long, floating dress tickled her heels. She examined the dress with a critical eye; she had never been one for dressing up, or down for that matter, so this was almost like the Yule Ball again; "Where am I?"_

_"Hey there, little 'Mione," said a casually familiar voice, and she whirled around, coming face-to-face with someone she thought she would never see again. Fred Weasley grinned at her and she launched herself forward, tears brimming over her chocolate eyes and threatening to fall. "It's been a few years," he teased softly, though his arms wrapped themselves protectively around her body, as if shielding her from something else._

_"Fred," she murmured in his ear, relaxing in his arms with a small sigh of relief. "Am I dead? Are you dead? Oh - what would the others think?" _

_But he grinned and held her tighter, and she cut herself off and hugged him more tightly than she thought possible. "You're not dead and neither am I," he said cheerfully, pulling back to examine her from head-to-toe. "Well, you don't look dead," he stated playfully, and she whacked him lightly, still revelling at the fact that she had met her brother again. "I was sent here to warn you of something."_

_George stepped out from the shade of the beech tree he had been lounging in, snorting. "Well, it was more like someone," he contradicted, and Hermione wasted no time in throwing her arms around him, as well. "Whoa there little tiger," he said, but he held her just as tightly anyway, smiling into her neatly braided hair. "Listen here, 'Mione," he said quietly, "he will come to know who you are and where you're from, and when he does he will be after you. You-Know-Who isn't going to stop until you're dead."_

_Hermione nodded. "Well, I figured as much. If I knew about the future, he would think I'd tell him how he could win. I really don't understand how his mind works, anyway, I mean, I would never -"_

_"We know," said both the twins, and Hermione relaxed again, pulling back to look at them curiously, tilting her head to the side and looking for the hole in the side of George's head, and the injuries that Fred would maintain over the course of the battle. To her surprise and the twins' delight, there was no visible trace of his ear leaving the rest of him, and Fred looked as if he was not a day over seventeen. "Look, we just wanted you to know that -" Fred cut himself off, whirling around to check the sun's course in the sky. "We don't have much time, so I'm going to make this short: Voldemort will come to know that you're from the future, and he will be after you. He will threaten those you love and he will stop at nothing until you're on his side. No matter what he does, 'Mione, don't give in to him. That'll ruin the future and we'll never see you."_

_She nodded fiercely, embracing them both tightly. "I won't give in," she echoed strongly, and George grinned as Fred murmured, "That's our girl," in her ear, and, with a 'pop', the twins vanished, leaving her to whirl around and face the starry sky, the sun no longer visible anywhere among the trees. Hermione looked around for a way out and walked curiously over to the beech tree they had both appeared from, wondering if she could possibly exit the way she had found entrance._

_Soon enough, she found her vision clouded by darkness, fogging her vision and lulling her into a fitful sleep._

* * *

Hermione gave a little moan and pushed herself up on her elbows, bending her sore limbs and wincing whenever a bone popped into place after a long night's sleep in an uncomfortable position. Wide amber eyes met hers as she groaned and pried open her eyes, and Remus grabbed her in a hug as soon as she had done so. She murmured sleepily and hugged him fiercely back. "We were worried about you," admitted Remus quietly as he pulled back, smiling in relief. Hermione grinned and sat up.

"It'll take much more than _that_ to take care of Hermione Granger," said Hermione defiantly, and Remus grinned and squeezed her upper arm, nodding agreeably. "I am sorry I made you worry, you know - I'm fine." She pushed on the back of the sofa cushion for leverage, forcing her body weight on two unsteady feet with an almost inaudible wince.

Remus put his hands firmly on her shoulders, supporting her as she stumbled towards the dormitory steps. "Can you walk?" he asked softly, uncertainly, and she gave a small grunt of pain as an answer. He took her upper arms and turned her around, letting her lean on him. She didn't protest, but used his frame as a means of pushing up the stairs. They made it half-way up until the staircase gave way underneath their feet, sending them both spiralling to the ground.

Hermione laughed harder than she had in what felt like years as she pushed herself up on her elbows, watching the door above them crash open and Alice came darting out, easily sliding down the slope with little grace as she threw herself at Hermione, giggling, her cheeks flooded with colour. Remus sat up and looked dully up the stairs at Marlene and Lily, who exchanged amused, somewhat worried glances before sliding down after Alice with considerably more grace than she had. "I didn't know you were awake," said Alice, her chin resting on Hermione's shoulder and her eyes huge and full of mirth.

"Well, I was coming up to see you. It seems Remus had forgotten that the stairs turn to a slide of a boy sets foot on them, and followed me," stated Hermione drily, and Remus shrugged somewhat sheepishly. "I'm fine, Alice, thanks for asking."

Alice frowned at her; because she was so short, it looked almost comical, but none of the others had the heart to point that out. "If you're fine, Hermione Granger, then why did you need help coming up the stairs? Hmm?" she leaned forward triumphantly, batting her eyelashes. Lily offered her hand to Remus and managed to haul him to his feet and Marlene was hugging Hermione from behind, her chin set on her shoulder and her blue eyes wide and questioning.

Hermione grinned. "He wasn't helping me," she ignored Remus' snort as he took Lily's offered hand and hauled himself to his feet. Alice looked at her disbelievingly, her eyebrows raised and her lips set in a small, almost pathetic pout. "I'm fine!" she protested as Marlene scoffed and moved back and the small blonde girl huffed and stepped back.

"Glad to see you're alright, 'Mione," said Lily, moving forward to loosely embrace the smaller girl. Hermione smiled and hugged her back, grinning at Remus over her shoulder. It was strange to be there, hugging Harry's parents, father figures, and family, but she savoured every moment of it, and quite a large part of her loved them all now. They had welcomed her without question and had made her feel at home and safe, which was admittedly more than what Harry and Ron had done, and she loved it much more than she let on.

If she admitted to herself, she would find that her home had changed somewhat significantly.

* * *

_**I know it's been quite a while since I've updated, and I do hope none of you have given up on my poor planning and the story altogether, but here it is now, and I hope it's considerably longer and of higher quality than the last one. Also, I'd like to just point out, as I squeal and jump around in the middle of Wilkinson's, 49 reviews! That's almost 50!**_

_**If you can't tell, as I'm writing this note, I'm screaming like a five year old at her birthday party. Thank you so much for reviewing and sticking with me through my poor updating and, most of all, reviewing! I love each and every one of you and I hope you all know that more and more chapters will come quicker if I'm happy.**_

_**I'm certainly happy right now.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Marlene**_


	11. An Interesting Transfiguration Lesson

James cracked his eyes open, blinking deliriously at the mass of untameable curls next to his face. Marlene and Alice were holding pillows on either side of his head, raising them to whack him at any moment. He let out a yell as Hermione's struck his midsection and shot up in bed, glaring at the giggling brunette. "What's with the wake-up, anyway?" his best friend's voice demanded as Sirius dragged his shirt over his head.

Hermione shrugged and threw her pillow back onto his bed, perching on Remus' bed. "It's a school day today," she said, grinning slightly. "Lily decided she'd spent too much time away from the classrooms thanks to my little 'episode' the day before yesterday," she grimaced and Alice patted her arm, "so she woke us up at half-six in the morning and we had breakfast in the kitchens with Frank and Mary. You're lucky we let you sleep two hours longer than we did," she wagged a finger at Remus, who hid a grin. "We could only hold her back for so long…"

"Hermione!" Lily's indignant squeak resounded as she lunged for the other girl, sending them both spiralling onto the floor. "You did not 'hold me back'! I had to restrain you from attacking Marlene when she said that you fancied Gilderoy when we met him in the hallway this morning…" Hermione scowled at her.

She huffed and sat up, detangling Lily's hand from her hair. "I hate Lockhart, Lily, no matter what you and the girls think. He's an idiot," she added, hoping to convince a smirking Alice. "It's true! He's probably going to end up being this man who steals other people's work and takes credit for it! Pretty boy Lockhart," she mocked, putting on a fake falsetto voice.

Lily pouted. "Hermione, I hate your hair. It hates me," she yanked her hand out of her hair and Hermione winced and put a hand to her head, her lips turning down in distaste. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to hurt." She looked up at Remus, who was pulling his shirt of her his head, and blushed as Dorcas elbowed her, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Just – just get ready for school," she barked and looked up at Remus again, who looked back at her with a furrowed brow, before blushing and slipping out of the room.

Hermione stood up and grabbed Alice by the arm, Dorcas by the ear, and smiled at the boys, motioning to the door to Cassandra and Marlene and, frowning at them, she dragged the girls out of the door. "We'll wait in the common room!" called Marlene behind them as Cassandra waved and closed the door.

"How'd they wake you up?" Sirius asked Remus as he buttoned up his trousers, looking around the room for his missing left sock. He grinned as Remus blushed and looked tentatively at James.

James sighed and looked at Remus from his position on his bed, hunting in his pockets for his Gryffindor tie. "If you like Lily, I'm fine with that – she doesn't like me anyway," he said, but Remus bit his lip. "Look, she likes you, too, and if she's happy, I'll be happy – she doesn't see me like that anyway."

Remus nodded, but he didn't look reassured. "Well, Marlene and Dorcas came over and started whispering in my ear. They – they…" he trailed off and blushed deeply, straightening his bag strap awkwardly. "Err, well, then, I'd better get to the common room." He darted out of the room, still blushing profusely, and James sighed as he wrestled with his shoe.

"That was brave of you, mate," said Sirius after a moment, the mischievous sparkle in his eyes replaced with a look of slight awe. "I'd never be able to do that – I mean, give up a girl that I really liked to my best friend. That was brave of you."

"Aw, are you going soft on me?" James cooed, trying to hide his discomfort; Sirius grinned, seemingly fooled, but he put away the conversation in his mind to remember it so that he could corner both Remus and Lily about it. "Let's go to the common room." He pulled his bag over his shoulder and left the room, his best friend following dutifully behind him. "I see no reason to stop my best friend being happy, even if it's with the girl I've been chasing after for years. I'm not going to stop him from anyone who makes him happy with his condition – Merlin knows that many girls would rather fear him than date him."

They found the girls in the common room; Lily was still blushing faintly, dangling her legs over the arm of the sofa she was lying across, Alice was holding hands with Frank, sitting with him on the loveseat, Marlene and Dorcas were dragging a brush through Hermione's hair, who looked miserable as she squeaked in pain whenever the brush yanked on a particularly unwilling knot, Cassandra was reading a magazine and Remus was watching amusedly from besides Lily, blushing whenever she caught his eye.

Hermione jumped up when she saw them and darted behind Sirius, bracing herself against his back and leaning over to hiss to the both of them, "Help me – they want to make my hair cooperate!" She winced as Marlene held up the brush and Dorcas tackled her to the ground, taking the brush and sitting on her stomach happily, dragging the brush through her hair. "Save me!"

Lily jumped up and put her hands on her hips, glaring at them. "Get up, now," she barked in a condescending tone, "we won't make it to Transfiguration if you're busy dragging that damned brush through hair that's very unwilling to cooperate with you." She glared at them as Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, sitting up easily and shoving Dorcas off as if she weighed nothing at all. "Come on!"

Alice and Frank leapt to their feet and saluted. "Yes ma'am," Hermione and Dorcas chorused and Cassandra sighed, putting down her magazine and tucking it in her bag ("I'll need it in Divination"). Marlene linked arms with Lily and dragged her out of the portrait hole.

Hermione grinned mischievously and offered her arm to Cassandra and Dorcas, who both linked arms with her and, on her signal, they jumped out from the portrait hole and began to sing, "We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz," as they went.

James shared an amused glance with the other two Marauders and sighed. "Why is it we always get stuck with the weird ones?" he questioned, and the sound of the girls yelling incredulous insults back at them caused them to laugh as they followed them out of the portrait hole.

…

Hermione tapped her quill against her chin thoughtfully, her eyes fixed with rapt attention on the Professor of Transfiguration as she prowled around the room, correcting mistakes on the summer essay they had been set on the components of Human Transfiguration. She paused at her desk and leaned down to whisper, "Of course, because of your sudden arrival in our time, Miss Granger, you will not have to hand it in until Monday," she smirked, but she beamed up at her Professor. "I see you rather enjoy writing for homework."

"Oh, yes," Hermione's eyes lit up. "And I absolutely love Transfiguration. I was working on becoming an Animagus before I came here, and I was hoping…" She leaned forward, lowering her voice to a whisper so that Marlene, who was sitting beside her, couldn't hear her. "You helped me in the future and I was hoping you would help me again. I didn't really put too much thought into it before, but I would appreciate it if you would…"

"Come and see me after class and we'll see what we can do," she replied briskly, snatching the scrolls from the boys' desks and marching off towards the front of the class, but she spared her a wink. "Now, today we shall be covering something that is completely irrelevant to anyone who does not wish to fight in this war," she said slowly, turning her wand to flick it at the parchment, which gathered themselves up into neat piles on top of her thoroughly polished desk. "This class will occur once a week and is not mandatory to attend, but I recommend that you all stay and hear what I have to say now.

"This lesson will focus on training you, preparing you for the war outside, if you would allow it to be said so. You will be taught spells and wards, hexes and defensive runes, anything that would allow you to protect yourself and your homes." She paused. "Every week there will be a new teacher, from outside the school – to be more specific, these people are publicly opposed to Voldemort and would gladly teach new generations what they know. This first week, we won't be taking lesson – we are here to talk about our new weekly arrangements and who will be willing to attend."

Hermione stood up immediately, her wand in hand and her face solemn. "I would gladly attend, Professor – I have always been opposed to Voldemort and that will not change now."

She could feel the others staring at her back and then Dorcas was suddenly standing up beside her, a small frown furrowing her brow. Mary, Frank, Cassandra, and Marlene were stood up as well, and it was then Hermione remembered that they were in the Order young as well. "We'll be there," said Mary, and the others nodded.

Alice looked at Frank for a moment before standing up, looking pale. "I was thinking about being an Auror," she said shakily, but then she shook herself and stood straighter. "I will attend as long as they continue to do so."

James and Sirius were up next, looking more solemn than they ever had done. Neither felt the need to say more, but instead nodded gravely, their pale faces betraying their slight fear and reluctance slightly more than they appeared to feel. Remus looked up at his friends and, after an encouraging nod from the redhead, he and Lily stood up and nodded gravely at the Professor, who looked pleased as she noted down their names. The Gryffindor crowd sat down slowly and it was then that the other Houses seemed to snap out of their stupor; several Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws stood up and McGonagall noted their names down, while two Slytherins hesitantly nodded.

"We need a name, I think," said McGonagall after a moment; several people snickered, but she fixed them all with a stern glare. "Would you like to be named 'the fifth period Transfiguration lesson', yes?" she snapped, and several recoiled.

"Err… what about the Defence League?" suggested Tina Chang shakily, and McGonagall nodded thoughtfully. Something clicked inside Hermione and she sprang back to her feet, smiling widely at the thought of home.

"Dumbledore's Army, the DA for short," she said, her voice slightly thickened. "It would show where our loyalties lie while showing support for the school and the Headmaster without publicly giving the names or family lines to the Death Eaters or any outsiders who wished to leak information." McGonagall nodded approvingly, while the rest of the class eyed her curiously as she sat back down, both beaming and sniffling. "Just like home."

After class finished, Hermione stood up and wandered over to McGonagall's desk as casually as it was possible with the straggling Slytherins wandering around, wondering how much they could gather from her posture, facial expression, or body language. Luckily, she was skilled enough to push her face into a blank mask, her body still and her arms by her sides, not portraying any emotion. When she reached the desk, McGonagall barked, "Out!" and then they were left alone.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Back home we had a Defence group called Dumbledore's Army because there was a Defence teacher who was working for the Ministry, spying on the school and making sure none of us could cause an uprising against them in the Ministry. We took matters into our own hands and we formed the DA, practicing weekly in the Room of Requirement and learning our spells from Harry Potter or from the books the room provided us with."

McGonagall allowed a smile to pass upon her thin lips. "You are a remarkable young girl, I can only hope you rub off on others." She paused, "I see you wish to train as an Animagus. I would prefer Thursday evenings, for that is when I have no meetings or extra-curricular activities to watch. Meet outside my office at eight o'clock – that gives us a good two hours a week to perfect your training, Miss Granger. I expect you there sharp and ready for intensity."

"Don't ever expect anything else," Hermione replied fiercely, and McGonagall nodded before waving her out of the room, politely dismissing her to her next lesson.

* * *

_**I'd had this planned all along - the DA returning in another timeline, but I wasn't sure about the Animagus training until someone suggested it to me as an anonymous reviewer. I can't believe the reactions to this story and I'm overwhelmed by the responses I get every time I post something and the encouragements I get for posting. Thank you for the support - we have successfully passed the ten chapters mark! Yay!**_

_**I hope you love this as much as I love writing it - aka, that is a LOT.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Marlene**_


	12. The Form and Its Change

James exited the classroom at the end of the day, watching the sniffling Hermione carefully, as if sizing up his options. Only he and Hermione had chosen Muggle Studies – his mother had persuaded him to drop Divination – and their class had been let out early because it was the second week of term and the teacher had papers to mark from over the summer, so he and Hermione would have the next three quarters of an hour to themselves. "James?" d she said after a moment, and he stopped walking to look back at her. "Do you fancy Lily more than you let on nowadays?"

He sighed and took her by the elbow, leading her down the corridor and looking at her slightly exasperatedly. It was only then that he realised that she was both new to the school and his group of friends, and he shook himself. It honestly felt like she had been there for the past seven years, as if he had known her all of his life, and a part of him felt like he knew her more than any of the others did. "I've been chasing her for the past seven years, I must've fancied her a lot," he evaded her question.

"You didn't answer me properly," she replied, and he sighed.

"Yes, I think I still like Lily," he admitted. "I'm not sure anymore. If Remus likes her, too, I'm not going to stop him from having someone who cares for him as more than a friend, who doesn't care about his… err…" His face heated up and it was then he remembered that she didn't know as much as the other girls and he blushed heavily. "Err… he gets sick a lot and people have taken to call it his condition?" he offered, but it came out as more of a question than an explanation.

Hermione gave a small noise of question and stared at him for a moment, but eventually she shrugged and looked away. "OK, then," she sounded a little victorious but then she paused. "But doesn't Remus like Lily?" she persisted, and James felt a rising monster grow inside of him as she looked at him imploringly.

He snapped, "I owe no explanation to you, Granger, so stay out of my business. I think you are the one who owes us an explanation." His face was red, his tone was snappish, and she recoiled as if he had struck her before straightening and resting her hands on her hips, glaring up at him in a cold and demanding manner that scared him just a little.

"If you must know what happened the night I was tortured, James, then here you are," she snarled. "My friends and I were on the run from Voldemort because he was after us because we were all powerful enough to potentially bring him down. Snatchers, who wandered the forests and barely-travelled paths looking for us, captured us and took us to Malfoy Manor. I, being the only girl and the most 'vulnerable' of the group, was chosen to be tortured for information first because I was the know-it-all, the one who knew the most. They wanted to know where we had gotten the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Harry had drawn it from the Sorting Hat that Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, had given them. I managed to lie and tell them that we found it, that it was a fake, and that we hadn't stolen anything from any of the Death Eaters."

"I heard you screaming," James admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at the ground. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to sound so harsh. You're my friend – you deserve an explanation more than anyone. But I can't give that to you – it's not my secret to tell, and it's only when we can really trust you that we can tell you. Remus is insecure and for that reason you can't pester him or ask him about his secrets," she gave a small smile of acknowledgement before looking at the ground.

His voice rang in her head over and over again. _And it's only when we can really trust you that we can really tell you. _It hurt more than she'd care to admit and he seemed to realise what the emotions in her eyes told and his eyes widened, hastily repeating the conversation in his head. "No – let me rephrase that," he hastily said and she raised her eyebrows, looking hurt more than he'd think she would have. Maybe she felt the same way, that she'd been there long enough to earn their trust, and he admitted to himself that it felt like he trusted her, too. "We do trust you. It's just that…"

She cut him off. "No, I understand," with that, she turned on her heel and left the corridor, leaving him staring after her numbly.

* * *

"Alright, Miss Granger," McGonagall instructed, her hands braced on Hermione's shoulders and her face set. "This will take years of trails and hardships and I do not even expect you to get this right – no Animagus has been produced from Hogwarts in eleven years, and I admit that that has not been due to the student's competence, skill, or valiance, but to my own foolish assumptions." Hermione nodded, looking shaken at her Professor's revelations, and straightened up, taking a step back and raising her eyes up to the teacher's. "Now, first you must find a place within you – a place where you can turn your back on reality and escape hardships to a peace that you have mutually remembered – now, centre yourself. I can only instruct you so much."

Hermione rolled her shoulders and looked up at McGonagall, her hazel eyes glazed over and her body perfectly relaxed. "It could be a place where you are at perfect peace, a place where you can relax, a place where everything makes sense. Miss Granger, can you see it?" She paused and took her shoulders again. "You have found it."

This was true. Hermione was standing in a forest, the grass a perfect shade of green, the sky a brilliant blue with several, perfect clouds drifting across, seemingly dancing with the beautiful sky and the barely seen moon. The trees stretched tall for what seemed like miles, large enough to shield her from the outside and provide little view of the stars that seemed to be brightening, darkening the skies as it did so. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, a small and peaceful smile playing with her lips, and then she nodded. "I can see a forest – it's…"

"There is no need to describe it to me, Miss Granger," McGonagall's voice cut her off, and a faint blush flooded her cheeks as she nodded somewhat sheepishly. "Now, can you see something else? Perhaps an animal, racing towards you?" Hermione looked around in the clearing, her eyes squinted in concentration. She had just enough time left in her small forest clearing to see the doe creeping into the clearing in front of her. Her eyes widened in shock and then she was standing in the middle of the Transfiguration as her Professor beamed proudly down at her. "Well? What was the animal? What will you turn into?" It seemed that McGonagall was just as excited as she was, and had made no effort to hide how she felt.

"A doe," she murmured; a blush flooded back onto her cheeks as she realised what this meant. It had been three weeks since McGonagall had agreed to teach her the remainder of her Animagus training, and she was much further than she had been in her time. This was mainly thanks to the fact that the McGonagall that had taught her before had been frazzled and busy with the war efforts, and hadn't really been focusing on her training. But she chose not to mention this. But the doe meant a lot more than she thought it would; now that she was in the Marauders' times, it couldn't mean Harry, unless it was some imprint of her past left with her to remind her or torture her. Or it could be the symbolic representation of her newfound friendship with James, Lily, and the rest of the Marauders and their friends. Somehow, something didn't seem to be in place – she didn't have all of the information, and she had always had all the information she needed. Hermione made a mental note to herself to visit the library after Astronomy. "It was a doe," she repeated, louder than before, and the blush intensified. "I – my friend's father's Patronus and Animagus form was a stag, and his was the same. One of my new friends in this time is his father and I'm conflicted on whether it reflects my arrival here and my friendship with him or who I remember and love from my time."

McGonagall's sharp eyes snapped to her face and sized her up. "Your Patronus form was not the same before?" Hermione shook her head. "Well, the form of a Patronus usually changes when something changes in one's heart, body, soul, or mind – indeed, a lot has changed within you since your arrival here, Miss Granger. This might be the reason of your change, but why this has happened is a loss to me. I think the only person who can answer that question is you."

Hermione felt a smile touch her lips as the Transfiguration offered her a small grin and waved her over to the desk. "You are a remarkably knowledgeable young witch, but there is something I would like to warn you with – you are not yet wise. Wisdom comes from your knowledge, yes, and yours is extensive, but it is how you use that knowledge that makes you wise. You have the potential to be a very wise and powerful witch, but you must overcome your fears and face them to become what you should be." She paused. "You have the full potential, but I fear that, if you do not act upon this potential, then you will become the average pupil that leaves these doors every year. Many of them are powerful and have acquired an extensive knowledge over the years – yet none of them have a purpose or use for it."

She nodded as McGonagall sat down and folded her hands. "And how do I face my fears, I suppose? I'm all for doing that – Voldemort and his Death Eaters are what I fear the most, aren't they?"

"I suggest you think about what scares you most over the next week, Miss Granger," the Professor paused and looked piercingly at her. "By our next lesson I expect you to have changed your answer to something that is more appropriate to you and not to the general wizard or witch. Good evening, Miss Granger," she dismissed her with a wave of her hand and Hermione obediently left the room, in the general direction of the library – she didn't think she would be able to face James or Lily for a while now.

* * *

_**I know it's short, but there was little that I needed to happen in this chapter - James needs to make a mistake between them and she will distance herself from them for weeks, and this will leave her confused as to why her Animagus form changed if he didn't trust nor like her. Hermione is a very independent and secure girl - but she's rather insecure when it comes to her family and her problems with people she loves. I'm sorry if it seems to short, but I'll try and work on it in the future.**_

_**Brian1972, even though I appreciate your review, your points are rather flame-like. Yes, the Floo network can work any distance, but due to the extensive time between a place to place, it takes longer the father away the place happens to be. The fact that Potter Manor is close to his flat IS significant, and for this reason your review has irritated me - I'm glad to fix my mistakes, but this mistake is pointless and does not generally factor within the plotline or the story itself. Your review was as insignificant as my 'mistake' was - and, anyway, it wasn't a mistake. I do hope that you continue reading despite my insignificant mistakes and do not judge me for them.**_

_**Guest, I absolutely love Fred and George! *fan-girl squeal* I had planned to have the warning there, but I wasn't sure who was going to deliver it and that was eating at me. I was reading a fic with them factoring as the main characters and I'd seen that mostly the messages carried between times factor Harry or Ron, and I decided to do something that hadn't been done often enough - so I introduced Fred and George as the messengers! Yay! I know it's not a main role, or even significant, but I had to have them in this story. I hope you like it.**_

_**Generally, I love my reviews and their owners. I hope you love it as much as I love you all, and I hope the story is up to usual standards - keep reading! **_

_**Love,**_

_**Marlene**_


	13. Taken

Lily took a deep, somewhat calming breath before she pushed on the door to the boys' dorm, her stomach heavy with trepidation. She sighed at the state of the dormitory, clothes littered on the floor and the trunks open and overflowing with prank products from their last shopping sprees. She picked her way through the clothes, after she had closed the door softly behind her, and reached the first bed – James'. Lily decided to ignore the rank smell of his feet and slipped past him, reaching over the next bed – Sirius smelled disgusting and she had to plug her nose – to reach Remus'. She completely ignored the fact that Peter was in the dormitory; he had never been sensitive to anyone's problems, and she didn't trust him at all. "Remus?" she murmured softly, her cheeks flushed and her fingers shaking slightly as she brushed his cheek.

He moaned and blinked sleepily at her as she looked down at him, awkwardly rubbing her upper arm and jumping from foot to foot. "Lils?" he groaned, and she offered him a smile as an apology for waking him up at quarter past eleven in the night. "It's late." He moved to turn over, but the light from the moon caught the tears shining on her cheeks and he looked back at her, his expression morphing from one of annoyance to one of worry. "Are you alright? Is it the other girls? Are they alright?"

"Yeah," Lily cleared her throat as he motioned for her to sit down beside him. "Yeah, they're fine. But Hermione…" she trailed off as Remus shot up in bed beside her and his neck snapped around to look at the door. "She doesn't talk anymore. It's like she doesn't want anything to do with us. I keep trying to talk to her but whenever I try she remembers some appointment or something that she'd forgotten and runs away like I tried to hex her."

Remus frowned. "That's not like Hermione at all," he said softly, his voice scratchy from his sleep. "Are you sure none of us have said something that she got offended by? She wouldn't turn her back on us just because we hesitated in Transfiguration to join her in the DA. It's just simply not like her."

Lily let out a small cry and curled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her legs securely around them and looking down at him with tearful emerald eyes. "I'm worried about her," she murmured brokenly, and Remus wrapped an arm around her shoulder to pull her to his side. She looked up at him curiously and he blushed, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. "I – Remus, I like you," she said bluntly. "I like you – you know, as more than a friend. It's OK if you don't like me like that; I just thought you deserved to know…" He cut her off with a stern look down at her and she blushed. "Was I rambling?" her voice was shrill and he chuckled lightly. "I rambled again, didn't I? Mum's been trying to get me off rambling ever since I knew how to talk and it still hasn't worked and what would she _say_?"

"Calm it down, Lily," Remus soothed, patting the pillow beside his head and beckoning her down beside him as though it was a stupid idea to sit up all night – which, it probably was quite stupid – and she hesitated only a second before lying beside him, making sure to leave a polite distance between them. "We'll figure out what to do with Hermione in the morning."

She nodded as he rolled over and faced away from her, a feeling of hurt spreading in her gut as he completely ignored her presence there. "Well – uh – night, then," she murmured as she rolled back over, her eyes tearing slightly as she closed them. Lily sighed and curled her legs up to her chest while her back smashed into Remus' tucking her chin on her hand and looking out of the window forlornly.

Remus sighed and rolled over to watch her. He stayed silent, hoping to give her the impression that he was still sleeping, and watched her sniffle quietly. Her right cheek was pressed into the pillow, but he could still see the tears rolling down her left one, both of them fixed on the moon in the sky. It was a week from the full moon, and he often did the same thing, dreading the night when the moon would change. He watched in mild worry as her legs curled up to her front and her hands shook as she pulled the blankets to her chin, looking like a frightened child as the moon reflected in her eyes. "Lily," he murmured, and her eyes slowly looked up into his, wide and questioning. "I'm sorry if I seem a little rude. I really didn't mean to make you cry."

"No – no," Lily stammered, her fingers shaking as she rolled over to look at him, her hands creeping up to touch his face softly. He closed his eyes as her fingertips grazed over his cheek and she pulled them away, her blush hidden in the dark. "I – I was remembering when my sister used to make me stay in bed with her when the storms came. She used to tell me that it was to protect me from the thunder, but she was as scared of the storm as much as I am," she admitted quietly; "she pushes me away now. But I can still hear her in her room when the storm comes."

"You're really afraid of storms?" he said softly, shuffling closer. She nodded, looking more defeated than he had ever seen anyone look. "We're all afraid of something or other – it's OK to say so. I'm afraid of the full moon," he replied, his voice trembling as she looked up at him with wide eyes. "We're all afraid of something. Storms used to scare me when I was young, too. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Lily scoffed quietly. "Yeah, it's alright for a little child to be afraid of storms, Rem. But a seventeen year old who's living in constant danger? That's not OK." Remus sighed and wrapped a timid arm around her waist, pulling her closer so that she could bury her head into the crook of his neck. "Thank you though," she murmured into his ear, and he shivered slightly. She didn't seem to notice.

A few minutes later, he could hear her soft snores into his neck and he shifted so that her head was on his shoulder while his back was against the mattress, her body on top of his and her face pressed into his neck. "Goodnight, Lily," he breathed, and then he was out like a light.

* * *

Hermione hated avoiding them. But if they didn't trust her, then there was no point in trying to be friends with them, was there? She couldn't make them trust her, even if she wanted to run back to them and cry like a frightened child. Hermione shoved her wand in her robe pocket and moved towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, trailing the trees with her fingertips.

A strange hissing sound bounced against her ears as she delved further away from the castle and her eyes widened in shock. Hermione strained to hear it again, wishing it would just be mercifully her imagination, that Nagini was not on the grounds and that she was safe in Hogwarts… but then she heard it again, closer than it had been before. But this time it was accompanied by a voice, a pair of voices that seemed so familiar, almost as if she'd heard them in a dream.

_"The girl – Granger – he said to get her. Not the redhead," _the first voice, slightly gruff and strained slightly, hissed, attempting to stay quiet and failing miserably as his companion scoffed. _"If we bring the redhead to him, he'll torture us both, Dolohov – do you want that to happen to you? Let alone your family?"_

_"Fine, Malfoy – you put that girl over by that tree. He said to make sure someone knows that we have her, didn't he? No, not that tree, you dunce – that one, over there – no, the one in the corner. Don't tie her up, she'd think it strange that we let her go – I said don't!" _the second voice was clear, low-pitched, and, for a moment, Hermione almost thought it was Kingsley Shacklebolt in the clearing just in front of her. _"Quick! Granger's getting closer!"_

Her eyes widened. They had Lily? They were looking for her? She drew her wand, but it was too late, for one of the men was behind her, her wrist pressed tightly between her shoulder blades and her mouth covered as his dirtied hand slapped over it. She made a muffled sound that resembled a cry of protest and her captor chuckled – Hermione shivered; it was a low, patronising sound and she hated it. "Let go!" she bit down hard on his thumb, straining against him, but he was much too strong and hustled her into the clearing with irritating ease.

Lily was slumped against the tree, her emerald eyes glazed over, as if frozen in a permanent day dream. Hermione immediately struggled against her captor as the other one jabbed his wand in her direction, waking the redhead so suddenly the back of her head smacked against the trunk of the tree. "Hermione!" her voice was shrill as the redhead made to stand up, but Hermione's captor aimed a wand at Hermione's head and then she froze, her back half-way up the tree and her knees bent with strain on trying to hold her body up in mid-air.

"Now, red," purred the first, strolling forward casually with his wand pointed at her head, as if he did this every day and threatening lives was normal. "Listen carefully or she will pay the price. We're taking this bitch," he motioned to a struggling Hermione, "to our master and none of your lot are going to follow us, clear?" Lily nodded frantically and Hermione struggled harder. "You're going to tell your Headmaster that we have her, but you're not to tell them where we're going. Send Potter, Lupin, and Black after us – we already have Pettigrew," he grinned maliciously. "We don't allow Mudbloods in our ranks."

Hermione bit down viciously on her captor's thumb and crashed to her knees beside Lily, shoving his arms from her body. "Don't tell them anything – don't let the boys come after me – I'll be fine – just be safe until I get back – trust me, Lily, trust me and don't let anyone but the Order come after me – tell Frank, Mary, Dorcas, Cassandra, or Marlene about it and they'll know…"

The arms roughly grabbed her around the waist and slung her back into a tree, ripping the redhead's hands from her own and sending stars dancing across her vision. The arms picked her up with ease and slung her over someone's shoulder, and then all she knew was blackness and Lily's shrieks of protest as her eyes slid shut tightly.

* * *

Remus slouched in his chair, the book spread across his lap and his gaze fixed on the sugar quill in his hand. He had been sitting there for three hours and yet the quill wouldn't melt between his lips, much to the others' amusement, and by now he was beginning to get a little irritated. Lily had gotten up a good hour ago to meet her new friend Snape by the black lake, much to his chagrin, and hadn't been back since, and now his worry was at a high that he hadn't estimated it could be at. He groaned and looked at Dorcas, who was slung across the couch beside him, dragging a brush through Cassandra's hair, who was reading a magazine with attention that could only come from years of practiced skill of ignoring the pain. Marlene and Mary were leaning backwards over the loveseat opposite, talking casually with both Sirius and James as though they did this every day. Frank and Alice had snuck out to Hogsmeade under the Invisibility Cloak three hours before and hadn't been heard from since and Peter was in the library, studying for his Charms NEWT.

"Remus!" Lily's frantic, tearful voice cut through the companionable murmur of the almost-empty common room as the Fat Lady's portrait swung open to admit a frazzled redhead, who lunged forward to grab his hands to tug him from the chair. "They have Hermione - the Death Eaters - they grabbed me - took me to the Forbidden Forest - told me to send you three after them - something about joining them - but they have Hermione - she told me to contact the Order, whatever that is -"

Mary's eyes widened and she shot up, grabbing Lily by the shoulders and whirling her around. "When was this? How do you know about the Order? What else did she say? Lily, this is important! Hermione's life depends on what you tell us! What happened in the Forbidden Forest?" She was hysterical now, and Marlene and Dorcas were at her shoulders, looking just as frantic, while Cassandra's magazine had slipped from between her fingers and she was frozen against the sofa. "What did she say about contacting the Order?"

"She - she said not to tell you anything - to send the Order after her, whatever the fuck that means - to stay put until she got back - she said that she'd get back on her own, but to contact the Order to let them know that she wouldn't be there for a while -" she shook her head, tears glistening on her cheeks. "But Mary... they took her! They said not to tell anyone but you or they'd kill her!"

"They - they have 'Mione..."

* * *

**_I can't believe I finally got this posted! Eek, I've been wanting to post this one for weeks, but I figured that it was too early for all the action. And, yes, Voldemort will be caught monologuing in the next chapter :) Hope you didn't mind the need to post more, but I've been feeling ill lately and I've been off school for a while so I've had plenty of time to post more chapters._**

**_Love,_**

**_Marlene_**


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